ARCATA, Calif. – Humboldt State women's basketball ended the 2016-17 season on the note with a strong performance in Saturday's 58-51 win over San Francisco State.
"I am really proud of the girls. I thought they came out with great effort and intensity. I felt like this was a great team win for us," said HSU Head Coach
Michelle Bento-Jackson. "Like I have been telling them for the last 24 hours, this game was about pride. The game meant nothing in terms of standings, so I just wanted them to come out and make our fans proud and themselves proud."
Trailing 30-26 at the half,
Mikaela Shannon scored 14 second half points to turn the tide in the Jacks' favor. She finished with a career-high 17 points.
HSU used a 9-0 run in the third quarter to erase SF State's lead and pull in front. Shannon made a layup with 5:25 left in the quarter to begin the turnaround, and she closed the run with another basket three minutes later.
"Mikaela was just in 'beast mode' in terms of her intensity and energy," said Bento-Jackson. "She does a great job on the boards, and she had a tremendous performance tonight that got us going in the second half."
The Gators chipped away at the Green and Gold advantage in the closing 10 minutes, but were unable to get closer than three points, 54-51, with 17 seconds left to play.
Ashlynn Cox (13) and
Kindall Murie (10) joined Shannon with 10 or more points. Shannon was 6-of-7 shooting and went 5-of-6 at the free-throw line.
Catharine Rees led the Jacks' rebounding effort with six boards.
SF State outrebounded HSU 32-27, but the home team scored 22 points off 20 Gator turnovers.
"Ending with a win is positive, there is no question about it," said Bento-Jackson. "Of course, our wins and losses aren't what we would like them to be, we probably left four or five games on the table, which is exactly what I just told the team. This is the third time in my coaching career that I took over a new program, and it's hard. It's tough and challenging for everyone involved. I am so proud of this team for sticking with it and trusting the process. This team has grown tremendously, and I credit them. They are the ones that did it, win or lose, they came out and practiced hard."
