LA JOLLA, Calif. ? Michelle Osier scored 13 points and grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds while teammate Meaghan Noud scored a game-high 22 points in UC San Diego's 68-51 victory over visiting CSU Monterey Bay on Saturday evening in RIMAC Arena. With the victory the Tritons improve to 15-5 overall and finish the first half of the CCAA season with a 7-3 league record. CSUMB falls to 2-15 overall and 1-9 in conference play.
UCSD jumped out to an early 17-4 lead through the initial 10 minutes of play in the first half and looked as if it would cruise to its seventh-straight league victory over CSUMB. The Otters, however, would claw their way back into the game, out-scoring the Tritons by a 21-11 margin to conclude the first half with only a three point deficit.
First year head coach Charity Elliott's squad would regain a bit of its focus early in the second half, this time seizing control of the game for good by opening up the stanza with an 11-2 spurt in the first three and a half minutes to take a 39-27 lead that would dip below double digits only one more time the rest of the contest.
Despite shooting a mere 36.2% from the floor in the game, the Tritons out-rebounded the Otters by a 59-39 margin while also limiting their opponents to a sub-30% shooting night from both the floor and behind the 3-point line. Individually, nine of Osier's 20 rebounds came on the offensive end, only three less than the offensive rebounding output of the CSUMB squad.
Noud hit four 3-pointers and grabbed six rebounds on the night while Erin Noonan chipped in with eight points, five boards, two assists and two steals in the win for UCSD. The trio of Diahnn Futalan, Alexis Gaskin and Annette Ilg each added six points apiece for the Tritons.
Sabrina Jenkins led the offensive attack for the Otters, netting 14 points, 10 of which came in a solid first half outing. Britnea Moore added 12 while Alma Lopez contributed 11 points and a team-high six rebounds in the loss.
UCSD will return to the road next weekend, beginning the second half of its CCAA slate at 21st-ranked Chico State on Friday night, and at Cal State Stanislaus on Saturday evening. The game in Chico is scheduled for a 6 p.m. tip-off while the game in Turlock the following evening will begin at 5:30 p.m.
