LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The UC San Diego women's basketball team slugged out a 59-56 win over San Francisco State in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Quarterfinal on Tuesday night in RIMAC Arena. With the scored tied at 56-56 and :08 remaining, Michelle Osier grabbed her 13th offensive rebound and 18th of the game, drew a foul and sank two free-throws to put the Tritons up by two. As SFSU brought the ball up, Alexis Mezzetta came through with a huge steal with :03 left, icing the game for the Tritons. With the win, UCSD improves to 23-8, while the Gators drop to 14-14.
Osier finished the game with 26 points on 11-for-22 shooting, to go along with her 18 total rebounds. “God bless Osier,” said Head Coach Charity Elliott. “How many more opportunities did we get because of her play under the basket. Thirteen offensive boards, that really makes a difference.”
Meaghan Noud added 17 points and four rebounds. Noud connected on three three-pointers, extending her single-season school record total to 74.
While Mezzetta did not score in the contest, she grabbed six rebounds and two steals, the last steal with three seconds left clinched the win.
In the first half, the score was tied six times, the final tie in the half coming at 20-20 with 6:23 to play. The Tritons went on a 7-0 run, including four Noud free-throws to lead 27-20 with 3:59 remaining. UCSD would keep the seven point lead at 31-24 at the half.
In the second half, the Tritons extended their lead to 11 points at 40-29 with 16:00 remaining. UCSD still held a 52-43 lead with 6:40 remaining after an Osier lay-up. SFSU would go on an 11-2 run, tying the game up at 54-54 after two Brio Rode free-throws with 2:08 remaining.
After Noud hit two free-throws with 1:37 remaining, SFSU's Dominique Hunter scored on a lay-up to retie the game at 56-56 with 1:06 left. The Tritons would miss a shot with :41 left, but an offensive rebound by Alexis Gaskin gave the Tritons another possession.
The miss set the stage for Osier who missed a shot with :11 left, but grabbed her own rebound, went back up and was fouled with :08 left.
After Mezzetta stole the ball, Gaskin was fouled and made 1-of-2 free-throws. SFSU got a shot off from just inside half-court, but the shot was wide and the Tritons had the 59-56 win.
Gaskin finished the night with 12 points and nine rebounds.
SFSU was led by Jessica Hout-Freeman with 23 points and five rebounds.
UCSD is back in action on Friday, March 7 in a CCAA semifinal game on the Cal State San Bernardino campus. The teams in the semifinals will be re-seeded. No. 1 Chico State, No. 3 UCSD, No. 4 SSU and No. 7 Cal Poly Pomona make up the semifinal teams. No. 1 Chico State will play No. 7 Cal Poly Pomona and the Tritons will play Sonoma State. The Tritons will either play at 12:30 p.m. or 3:00 p.m. on Friday.
