CHICO, Calif. ? This time, 19th-ranked UC San Diego brought more than just Leora Juster to the party. Michelle Osier finished with 24 points, thanks in part to a career-high six three pointers, and also pulled down 12 rebounds, while Hillary Hansen scored 12 points and grabbed eight boards as the Tritons snapped Chico State's 28-game home winning streak 80-63 in front of a national television audience.
Juster put on quite a show for that audience and the 1,239 fans in Acker Gym. Last year's CCAA Player of the Year finished with 32 points, eight rebounds, and six assists as the 19th-ranked Tritons improved to 15-3 overall and took over first place in the CCAA at 11-2. She scored 30 points against the Wildcats earlier this season, but no one else on the team scored more than 10 in Chico State's 79-69 win at San Diego.
The trio of Juster, Osier and Hansen combined to score 68 of the team's 80 points, eerily similar to the 72-61 win at Cal State Bakersfield on January 13th when the they combined to score 62 of the team's points.
Chico State, who was ranked No. 8 in the national poll and No. 1 in the NCAA D-II West Region Poll, fell to 15-3 overall and 11-3 in the CCAA despite Audriana Spencer's career-high 27 points on 6-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc. Renee Goldoff finished with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Amber Simmons chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds, but only played 26 minutes before fouling out.
The game was the first of four NCAA Division II women's games to be broadcast nationally by College Sports Television this season, and it made for some good TV, especially early on. Chico State's All-American Simmons controlled the early going, scoring nine early points to lift Chico State to a 17-11 lead. But she soon found herself in foul trouble and picked up her third in the waning seconds of the first half.
Meanwhile, Juster began to assert herself and scored 18 points in the final 10 minutes of the first half to completely change the complexion of the game. Chico State held its largest lead, 23-16, before Juster's 3-pointer started a 12-5 run that tied the game 28-all.
Two Goldoff free throws gave the Wildcats one last lead at 32-30 before Hansen hit a jumper and Juster followed a layup with a 3-pointer to start a 17-4 run that put UC San Diego up 47-36 at the half. The Wildcats trailed by at least nine for the remainder of the game despite Spencer's long-range arsenal. The junior from Chico High School made four triples in the first half and two more in the second half to keep the Wildcats within striking distance through much of the second half.
Head coach Janell Jones' squad returns home for seven of its final nine regular season home games, beginning with three next week. The Tritons will host Cal State Dominguez Hills on Tuesday night before welcoming in Sonoma State on Friday evening and Humboldt State on Saturday. All three games are slated for 5:30 p.m. tip-offs inside RIMAC Arena.
