OCEANSIDE, Calif. – Humboldt State women's basketball team will be returning to the North Coast with consecutive victories, including Thursday night's California Collegiate Athletic Association win over the conference's newest member. The Lumberjacks (3-4, 1-0) defeated Cal State San Marcos (1-3, 0-2) on Thursday night, 69-52.
"Every win in the conference is a huge one, especially on the road," said Head Coach Joddie, Gleason. "This win shows how hard the team played and worked on the defensive end. San Marcos is a really good shooting team, and we didn't panic when they hit shots. We figured out what we needed to do within the game and answered on the offensive end."
The game opened with the Green and Gold trailing 4-2 before a 20-5 run opened things up. The Cougars never saw the lead again following their early two-point advantage.
The HSU defense held CSUSM to 3-of-15 (20%) shooting from behind the arc in the first half, and forced misses on the host's first seven attempts from distance.
The Cougars responded after intermission. San Marcos opened the third quarter with 12 of the first 14 points to cut its deficit down to eight. Despite the initial run, eight was as close as the game got in the second half, and the Jacks pushed the lead to 20 points on three separate occasions in the fourth quarter.
A trio of Jacks led the way in the scoring department, with
Amanda Kunst (17 points),
Kiana Brown (14 points), and
A'Jaee Foster (14 points) each scoring in double figures. Foster completed her first double-double of the year with the addition of 10 rebounds. Fellow starter,
Teylor McMiller, collected 11 boards and two blocks, both game-highs.
Humboldt was able to make its presence known from the interior throughout the game. The Jacks held a 32-8 advantage in points in the paint, and also benefitted from outscoring the Cougars by 18 in points off turnovers.
"I think that we are pretty balanced team," said Gleason. "If the opponent focuses on any one person, then others can step up. Teylor (McMiller) was all over the glass and this was the A'jaee (Foster) of old."
The Jacks will have a quick turnaround before hosting Cal State Los Angeles on Saturday night at Lumberjack Arena. The Golden Eagles lost to Cal Poly Pomona, 82-45, in their CCAA opener on Wednesday. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
