ROHNERT PARK, Calif. - The 25th-ranked UC San Diego women's basketball team pulled away in the second half for a 69-65 win over the Seawolves on Friday night in Rohnert Park. Junior Leora Juster and freshman Michelle Osier combined for 46 points as they emerged from a slow start to improve to 13-2, 8-1 CCAA. Sonoma State drops to 8-8, 5-4 CCAA.
The Tritons entered the game ranked 25th in the nation and second in the NCAA West Region. The win was the team's ninth in a row.
UCSD got off to a shaky start falling behind by scores of 8-0, 13-2, and 24-13. A 16-2 run over the next 7:24 helped them, though as they came back late in the half. The teams entered the break deadlocked at 33.
UC San Diego came out in the second half on a 20-7 run that put them up by 13 with just over 13:00 remaining. SSU would make several attempts to cut into the lead, but in the end it was too much Juster and too much Osier to get past the Tritons.
Juster, a two-time CCAA Player of the Week recipient, shot 11-of-17 from the field en route to 26 points. She also had four rebounds and four assists. Osier had 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting to go along with nine rebounds and eight steals.
Janelle Lombardi led SSU with 25 points on the night that came on 9-of-16 shooting and four three-pointers. Heidi Mertle (14) and Jessica Jennings (12) also had double digits scoring performances.
Head coach Janell Jones and the Tritons return to action on Saturday evening with a 5:30 p.m. game at San Francisco State.
