LA JOLLA, Calif. - Sophomore Joleen Yang scored a career-high 24 points to lead the University of California San Diego women's basketball team to a 63-57 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) victory against Cal State LA Thursday night at RIMAC Arena.
UC San Diego won its fourth-straight to improve to 8-3 overall and 4-1 in CCAA play. The Tritons remain undefeated at home, now 6-0. Cal State LA dropped to 7-6 overall and 4-1 in league action.
Yang's 24 points were also a game-high as she doubled her previous career-best. Sixteen of her points came in the second half. She was 8-for-16 overall with three three-pointers while draining all five of her free throw attempts.
Dalayna Sampton was on double-double watch as she finished with nine points and nine rebounds for the Tritons.
UCSD ended the night shooting 40 percent (25-63) and kept Cal State LA to 37 percent (21-57). The Tritons led in assists (16-12) and blocks (4-3) while collecting seven steals and turning the ball over just 10 times.
Cal State LA was led in scoring by Mackenzie Barnes and Da'Jah Jackson, totaling 13 and 11 points, respectively. Barnes also secured nine boards for the Golden Eagles.
A rough night offensively for the Tritons meant that they led CSULA by only five points going into the second half (25-20) and never held a double-digit advantage in the game.
With just 48 seconds left in the contest, Cal State LA was within three points at 60-57. Yang drove down the baseline from the left and scored a reverse lay-up to pull UCSD out of a one-possession game with just 20.1 seconds remaining.
UC San Diego led for a majority of the game after strong defensive efforts in the first half, giving up 11 points in the first quarter and only nine in the second.
After being limited to only 30 percent (3-10) in the second quarter, Cal State LA returned from halftime to score 21 points in the third off of a 47.4 percent (9-19) performance. The Tritons responded with a 57.1 percentage (8-14) and 20 points of their own.
UC San Diego plays its final game of 2016 on Friday, Dec. 30 versus Stanislaus State (6-7, 4-0 CCAA) at RIMAC Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
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