FRESNO, Calif. – Humboldt State women's basketball wrapped up West Region Crossover Classic play with a 54-50 setback versus Western Washington Saturday afternoon.
The Lumberjacks never led against the Vikings, but they showed improvement following Friday's 20-point loss to Seattle Pacific. With Saturday's result, HSU moved to 0-2 to start the season.
Western Washington scored the first nine points of the game as HSU struggled to find its shot out of the gate. A pair of 3-pointers from
Ashlynn Cox and
Jovanah Arrington powered HSU's 8-0 run that trimmed Western Washington's lead from a game-high 15 to seven, 19-12, at the end of the first quarter.
Arrington sank another trey as time expired to cut the lead to a basket, 28-26, at intermission. The Jacks shot 17.9 percent from the field in the first half, and Arrington paced the Green and Gold offense with seven points.
The third quarter saw the Vikings reestablish a double-digit lead behind nine points from Hannah Stipanovich. HSU outscored Western Washington 11-1 in the final 4:17 of regulation to make the final score 54-50.
"I was very proud of our team's effort tonight," said HSU Head Coach Michelle Bento-Jackson. They were gritty and showed toughness against a good Western Washington team. We didn't have a good offensive shooting night and we made up for it in many occasions with our defense. I got on the team hard after last night's game because I was disappointed in our defensive effort. They responded very well tonight and put us in a position to win the game. For that I am proud, and we will learn from these two games."
Arrington led HSU scorers with 13 points off the bench. The Patterson, Calif., native was 5-of-13 shooting, and she swiped two of the Jacks' eight steals. Tyla Turner joined Arrington in double figures with 11 points to go with a team-high six rebounds and three assists.
HSU returns to Lumberjack Arena to face Notre Dame de Namur in a midweek non-conference showdown before Saturday's ESPN3 meeting with archrival Chico State. Wednesday's game against the Argonauts will tipoff at 7 p.m.
