ARCATA, Calif.--- Lumberjack fans were treated to probably the most exciting women's game of the season. Unfortunately, a last minute shot by Charity Gallegos with six seconds remaining sunk Humboldt's hopes of achieving an upset, as the No. 23 Cal State San Marcos Cougars escaped Lumberjack Arena with a 70-68 victory on Saturday evening. Four Lumberjack players finished in double digits, as Madison Parry scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Devon Lewis had a double-double, scoring 11 points and nabbing a team high 10 rebounds. Jayci Bayne scored 13 points while going 3-6 from 3-point range and Kaz Parks chipped in 12. 

"Obviously this one stings," head coach Michelle Bento-Jackson said. "We had an opportunity with a top-25 team on our home court. I thought we executed the scout for the most part. I thought we competed. I thought we played hard, and we hadn't been doing that. When you leave it all out there, it doesn't always mean you're going to get the results you want, but I do think this is a step in the right direction for our basketball team."

According to coach Bento-Jackson, tonight's game was a complete "night and day" difference compared to the team's performance against Cal State Los Angeles on Thursday. Although San Marcos jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, the Jacks responded quickly and tied the game at nine each with seven minutes remaining in the first behind a steal by Parry and a layup by Jaydon Williams. A foul on the play led to an old-fashioned 3-point way which gave Humboldt its first lead of the night 10-9 just moments later. A layup by Lewis assisted by Gracie Lee with 4:32 remaining put the Jacks up by five, 16-11. Another layup off the fastbreak by Lewis would cap off an 8-2 run to give the Jacks an 18-11 advantage with under three minutes in the corner. A 3-pointer by Kelsey Forrester and a pair of freethrows by Dynnah Buckner cut Humboldt's lead to just two with under a minute remaining in the first frame of action. Mina Tameilau tied things up with a layup to even the score at 18. Parry responded with a layup of her own on the other end to retake the lead, but a fastbreak layup by Gallegos tied the score at 20 to end the first quarter of play. Kaz Parks immediately picked things up for the North Coast squad to start the second quarter, as she hit a 3-pointer and a layup to help spark a 7-0 Lumberjack run to kick off the second frame. Humboldt gained its biggest lead of the quarter when a trey by Sarah Ahmadpour gave the Jacks a nine point advantage with just under four minutes remaining in the first half. San Marcos stayed composed and whittled down the Jacks' advantage. Jordan Vasquez earned an and-1 call with three seconds remaining to cut the lead to three as Humboldt entered the half leading 38-35.

Both teams started the second half a bit sluggish, as neither squad was able to score a field goal until a little over two minutes in, when a jumper by Gallegos cut the Jacks lead to just one. Parry responded moments later from beyond-the-arc to bring the lead up to four, but San Marcos tied things up with a little over 6:30 remaining in the third frame after a Parry foul sent Gallegos to the charity stripe. Moments later, Gallegos gave the Cougars their first lead of the half with another jumper to put her squad up two. A layup by Vasquez gave the visitors their largest lead of the quarter, 49-43, with 3:15 remaining in the third frame. Lewis scored five straight points to cut the deficit to just one with under two minutes remaining. Both teams played back and forth over the last 90 seconds of the quarter. Parry hit a freethrow with 10 seconds remaining to even things up at 53, but Buckner hit a shot at the buzzer to give the Cougars a 55-53 advantage heading into the final frame of action. San Marcos began the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run behind back-to-back 3-pointers by Forrester and Shasta Parker. The Jacks responded with a run of their own to cut the lead to just one with under three minutes remaining. A Bayne 3-pointer gave the Jacks the lead briefly with just under two minutes remaining, but a trip to the line by Vasquez followed by a 3-pointer by Forrester quickly swung things back in favor of San Marcos, 67-64 with 36 seconds left. With under 30 seconds left in the game, Parry again hit a shot to cut the lead to just one. After a trip to the line gave San Marcos a 68-66 lead with 25 seconds left, Kaz Parks hit a clutch layup to tie things up just seconds later. However, Gallegos responded moments later with a dagger of her own, dropping a jumper in the paint with less than six seconds remaining to retake the lead. A desperation 3-pointer by Ahmadpour failed to connect as the Cougars escaped with a 70-68 victory.

Bento-Jackson added that turnovers were a key reason for tonight's negative result.
"We just had a pocket of time where four out of six possessions we turned it over and we came up empty and we gave them those extra possessions," the coach said. "But as much as they went on a little bit of a run, we bounced back. We just have to eliminate those pockets of time."

Despite the negative result, the coach hopes that the performance results in some positive momentum going forward.
"We just have to focus on ourselves," Bento-Jackson said. "I want to build off the momentum tonight from just some things that we have not been doing consistently and that's where our focus is going to be: to take the positives from tonight and continue to build and move forward as a team."

NOTABLE STATISTICS
Humboldt held advantages in fastbreak points (14-9), second chance points (17-10) and points in the paint (36-26) but was outscored 24-12 in points off turnovers. The team shot nearly 43 percent from the field and 39 percent from beyond-the-arc. The team was also perfect from the freethrow line, shooting 7-7. Individually, Devon Lewis earned her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. The junior from Vacaville was also only one assist away from a triple-double. She also recorded two steals and a block. 

UP NEXT
Humboldt (6-8, 4-6 CCAA) will be on the road next weekend as they travel to face polytechnic foe Cal Poly Pomona (11-3, 8-2 CCAA) on Thursday, January 19 at Kellogg Arena in Pomona, Calif. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

For more information on Cal Poly Humboldt women's basketball, please visit humboldtathletics.com and follow us on all social media platforms.