LA JOLLA, Calif. – After seeing its winning streak snapped, Humboldt State won the final three minutes and claimed a 67-64 road win over UC San Diego women's basketball Saturday night.
 
Leading 62-61, Lumberjack Neika Puryear drained a left-elbow jumper with 38 seconds left. Nyaa Davis stole the ball off a tipped pass by Kersey Wilcox on the next Tritons' possession and converted a pair of foul shots for a 66-61 lead with 11 seconds on the clock. Nikki Powell added a final point with one tenth of a second to complete the three-point HSU victory.
 
"I am proud of our team's heart and ability to come back after the tough loss yesterday. For us to get the split, it showed a lot of determination to get the win tonight against a good UC San Diego team," said HSU Head Coach Joddie Gleason.
 
HSU bounces back with the victory to improve to 15-2 overall. At 10-1, HSU also kept its one-game lead in the California Collegiate Athletic Association over Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Dominguez Hills, both 9-2. UC San Diego fell to 9-8 on the year and 7-5 in the CCAA.
 
For the second time this weekend, Puryear led the Jacks' scoring. The junior guard dropped two of the team's three 3-pointers and netted seven of HSU's last 12 points in the game. Puryear finished with 16 points and grabbed two rebounds.
 
"Our motto for the game was 'Bounce Back'," said Puryear. "We never gave up and kept fighting the whole game."
 
"Neika was a clutch player for us down the stretch with a couple of shots and a couple free throws," said Gleason. "As a team, we were able to make clutch plays to answer UC San Diego."
 
A'Jaee Foster converted 6-of-9 attempts for 15 points, pulled down seven boards and stole a pair of passes.
 
Nikki Powell stepped up for one of her best contests of the year. The senior from Eureka, Calif., produced a team-best eight rebounds, swatted four blocked shots and swiped four steals to go with 11 points.
"Nikki has one of her best games. She rotated well and seemed like she guarded everyone at one point. She played great post defense and provided so much help defense," said Gleason.
 
Kersey Wilcox added seven points, seven rebounds and four assists in the backcourt.
 
Amanda Kunst chipped in six points and two rebounds. Jae Shin, Davis and Sumayyah Wiggins completed the Jacks' scoring with four points apiece, respectively.
 
HSU won the battle on the boards, 45-40, and the turnovers with 15 to UC San Diego's 18.
 
UC San Diego had four players reach double figures. McKennan Bertsch connected for 14 points, while Miranda Seto had 12 points and five assists.
 
The Tritons controlled the game early and held an early 10-4 lead in the opening five minutes. UC San Diego continued with a two-point advantage until Puryear hit a left-corner 3-pointer for HSU's first lead since the opening minutes, 25-24. After the Puryear trey, the Jacks added three more free throws for a 28-24 intermission lead.
 
Tied at 37-37, HSU received a Foster three-point play, two Kunst free throws and a Wilcox 3-pointer to open its largest margin, 44-37, to that point at 11:21. The Jacks led by eight points, 48-40 and 50-42, two minutes later.
 
UC San Diego answered with an 11-1 run and edged ahead, 53-51, at 6:28. After a Powell inside bucket pushed the Jacks ahead by two points, the Tritons' Farrah Shokoor tied the game, 60-60, and set up the final 3:21.
 
Puryear converted two foul shots with 2:59 remaining for a 62-60 contest and HSU never trailed from there.
 
HSU returns home for two games next week. The Jacks host rival Sonoma State Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. in Lumberjack Arena.