SEASIDE, Calif. - The UC San Diego women's basketball team opened up the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) portion of its schedule by defeating Cal State Monterey Bay, 68-57, on Friday at The Kelp Bed.
UCSD (3-3, 1-0 CCAA) led practically from start to finish after senior guard Stephanie Yano drained a mid-range basket 19 seconds into the game on the opening posession. CSUMB (2-3, 0-1) could not figure out the Triton defense as UCSD forced 20 Otter turnovers and scored 17 points off of them.
"We came out with a defensive mindset," said UCSD head coach Heid VanDerveer.
The Tritons started the game off in dominant fashion with a 20-5 run and eventually grabbed a 17 point lead, 30-13, with 2:47 left in the first half after Beth Mounier found Cassie MacLeod for a mid-range jumper.
In the closing moments of the period, Dana Webster was able to grab the offensive rebound from a Taylor Tanita miss and put it back just before the sound of the buzzer as UCSD went into halftime with a 34-19 lead.
The Tritons grabbed the biggest lead of the game, 43-25, after Mounier hit a shot from behind the arc with 15 minutes left in the game.
The Otters would not falter so easily as CSUMB started slowly chipping away at the lead. With three minutes left on the clock, Jenna Bandy hit a three-point shot to close the margin to single digits for the Otters, 62-54, since the opening minutes of the game.
After a Miranda Seto layup and a Farrah Shokoor free throw, Bandy hit another from long range with 1:21 left to make it an eight point game, 65-57. However, there was not enough time on the clock and the gap was insurmountable for the Otters as UCSD walked away with the win.
Shokoor led the Tritons with 17 points and added six rebounds. Dana Webster grabbed her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 boards. Seto also had 12 points as well. CSUMB was led by Bandy's 17 points.
"They made a run and we responded. Dana Webster gave us a solid post presence. Farrah Shokoor took advantage of her mismatch and Miranda Seto made some big plays to respond to their run," VanDerveer said.
UCSD will travel to Hayward to take on Cal State East Bay, tomorrow, Dec. 6. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m.
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