SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. ? The 15th-ranked UC San Diego women's basketball team got a measure of revenge over Cal State San Bernardino with a convincing 68-51 win on Saturday night in Coussoulis Arena on the CSUSB campus. With the victory the Tritons improved to 21-4 overall and 17-3 in CCAA play while dropping the Coyotes to 16-9 overall and 12-8 in league action. The win for UCSD avenges a 60-47 loss earlier this season to CSUSB in RIMAC Arena on January 19th.
Leora Juster and Michelle Osier led the way once again as the reigning CCAA Most Valuable Player of the Year scored 25, four rebounds and three assists in the win while the reigning CCAA Freshman of the Year had a double-double, scoring 16 points to go along with 13 rebounds. Senior Hillary Hansen added 10 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
Vanessa Wilt had 18 points and 13 rebounds in the loss for CSUSB while Erica Doyle added nine points.
As a team the Tritons shot only 37.0% from the floor but made 53.3% from long range and 76.9% from the charity stripe. CSUSB was limited to 35.1% from the floor, 29.2% from the 3-point line and a meager 44.4% from the foul line.
Juster and Osier did the most damage for the Tritons from long range, going a combined 7-for-10 from behind the arc. Osier went 4-for-5 while Juster made three of her five attempts.
UCSD also held a 43-36 advantage in rebounds while also committing only 10 turnovers, three less than the Coyotes.
With two big road wins this weekend, the Tritons will certainly retain the top ranking in the NCAA West Region and will need only two wins at home next weekend to secure the top spot in the regional and home court advantage. Head coach Janell Jones' squad will face CSU Monterey Bay on Friday night and San Francisco State on Saturday evening. Both games are slated to begin at 5:30 p.m. in RIMAC Arena.
