NAMPA, Idaho - The 21st-ranked UC San Diego women's basketball team won its regular season opener by an 86-82 score over Northwest Nazarene in a non-conference game Saturday at the Johnson Sports Center on Saturday evening in Nampa, Idaho.
The game started off well for NNU, as Crusader senior post Danielle Dwello broke the 1,000 career point mark in the first half, with Dwello ending the game with seven points and a team-high seven rebounds. Her career scoring total swelled to 1,002 points at the conclusion of the contest.
Leading the Crusaders in scoring was Janee Olds with 18 points and four rebounds. Also in double figures for NNU were Brittney Roggenkamp, Nicole Schutte and Ahlee Thomas with 15, 13 and 14 points respectively.
After ending the first half on a low note, the visiting Tritons started the second half on an 18-4 run and not losing the lead for the remainder of the game. Keeping that momentum the visiting Tritons shot an incredible 65% in the second half, compared to only 28% for the Crusaders.
UCSD used its size throughout the game scoring 42 points in the paint while limiting the Crusaders to only 22.
Leading the Tritons was All-American Leora Juster, who scored a career-high 37 points in the victory. Also in double figures for the Tritons were Hillary Hansen and Alexis Gaskin with 24 and 11 points respectively. Hansen also had a game-high 11 boards and recorded the only double-double in the contest.
The loss drops the Crusaders to 1-1 on the season while the Tritons improve to 1-0. UCSD will resume its schedule on Friday evening, December 1, opening up its home and California Collegiate Athletic Association schedule with a 5:30 p.m. contest against 5th-ranked Chico State inside RIMAC Arena.
