LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 3rd-ranked UC San Diego women's basketball team survived a valiant upset bid from Western Washington, pulling out a 79-76 double overtime thriller on Saturday night during the final game of the CCAA/GNAC Classic in RIMAC Arena. With the win the Tritons improve to 10-2 on the season while the Vikings drop to 3-9.
UCSD first year head coach Charity Elliott saw her squad out-score the Vikings by an 8-5 margin in the second overtime as Michelle Osier scored four of her 14 points in the stanza to help the Tritons secure the victory in a game that had 17 lead changes and only four ties throughout.
15th-ranked Seattle Pacific claimed the tournament crown with its 77-58 victory over Cal Poly Pomona in the first game on Saturday. The Falcons' Jackie Hollands was named tournament MVP and was joined on the all-tournament squad by teammates Kelsey Hill and Beth Christensen. Meaghan Noud of UCSD, Vanessa Dominguez of Cal Poly Pomona and India Soo of Western Washington rounded out the honorees.
Noud helped to secure her all-tournament selection for the Tritons by scoring a game-high 25 points on Saturday, giving her 48 in the tournament after netting 23 in the loss on Friday to No. 15 SPU. Erin Noonan added 12 points while Alexis Mezzetta had a solid game for UCSD with her 10 points, five rebounds and six assists. Alexis Gaskin scored only seven points but managed to pull down a career-high 17 rebounds.
Marelle Moehrle led WWU with her 19 points that included a 5-for-9 performance from behind the 3-point arc. Claire Pallansch added 15 points and 14 rebounds while Soo contributed 17 points and five assists in the loss.
The game was nearly over in regulation, but an 8-0 run from WWU over the final 2:09, that included 3-pointers from Soo and Moehrle, forced the first overtime period that saw both squads score nine points.
The two teams were nearly equal in all the statistical categories except for two. UCSD held a 12-5 advantage in made free throws and forced 25 WWU turnovers while committing only 17. Both team shot around 40% from the field and from behind the arce while the Vikings held a 51-45 advantage on the glass.
UCSD will now return to CCAA action next weekend, traveling to Sonoma State on Friday evening, January 4th, followed by a long drive to Arcata to face Humboldt State on Saturday night, January 5th. Both games are slated for 5:30 p.m. tip-offs.
