SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. ? The UC San Diego women's basketball team won its fifth consecutive game to start conference play, defeating Cal State San Bernardino 62-52 Friday night at Coussoulis Arena.
Michelle Osier led all scorers with 15 points as the Tritons took over sole possession of first place in the CCAA standings.
San Bernardino (7-5, 5-1 CCAA) entered Friday's contest with a half-game lead over UCSD after edging Cal Poly Pomona 61-59 in overtime Thursday in a matchup of two 4-0 teams. That lead would proved to be short-lived however, as Tritons won their fifth straight meeting with the Coyotes, dropping CSUSB out of a tie for the conference lead.
With the win, UCSD improves to 12-2 overall and 5-0 in the CCAA heading into Saturday's night contest against the Broncos at Kellogg Gym. The Tritons have now won five straight games and 11 of their last 12 overall.
After scoring just nine points in UCSD's victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills last week, Osier bounced back with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting to pace the Tritons for the 11th time in 14 games this season. She also finished with a game-high nine rebounds and recorded two steals.
Alexis Gaskin finished with 11 points and seven boards, hitting 5-of-12 shots from the field.
Annette Ilg,
Leilani Martin, and
Chelsea Carlisle scored nine points apiece for UCSD. Carlisle tied her season-high with five assists.
Point guard Ashlee Ford came off the bench to score 14 points for the Coyotes, while Jaclyn Rainville finished with 12 points and six rebounds. The Tritons held Krystal Urzua, the CCAA's leading scorer entering the weekend, to just nine points on 4-of-18 shooting, but she did finish with five rebounds and four assists.
UCSD was excellent defensively, limiting CSUSB to just 32% (23-73) shooting for the game. The Tritons shot 47% (24-51) on the other end, including 48% in the second half. UCSD was 3-of-6 from behind the three-point arc, sinking at least three triples in each of the last seven games.
The Tritons led for the duration of the first half, but never by more than six points until an 8-0 run to close the period gave them a 32-22 advantage at the break.
UCSD pushed its lead to 14 points early in the second before the Coyotes scored 12 unanswered points to pull within two, 36-34 with 16:07 remaining. A
Lauren Freidenberg layup finally put an end to the run and the Tritons responded with a 14-6 spurt of their own to go back in front by 10, 50-40 with less than nine minutes to play.
Osier's jumper two minutes later gave UCSD a 56-42 lead and the home team would get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
