ARCATA, Calif. — The Tritons have enjoyed their time away from home this season.
Sophomore forward Mikayla Williams scored a team-high 19 points with eight rebounds as the University of California San Diego women's basketball team earned another road victory, this time over Humboldt State, 77-62, Saturday evening at Lumberjack Arena.
UC San Diego (23-3, 19-1 CCAA) finished the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record on the road and have only lost a total of four true road games over the past three seasons.
“We have a very mature team with great leadership and very competitive people who accept challenges,” said UC San Diego head coach Heidi VanDerveer. “Our goal is to win every game no matter where we play.”
The Tritons already clinched the California Collegiate Athletic Association regular-season championship last weekend, and have now won 19 of their last 20 games.
Junior Kayla Sato finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, senior Dalayna Sampton recorded her 12th double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while senior guard Taylor Tanita scored in double figures for the second-straight game with 10 points.
UC San Diego led by four after the first quarter and pulled away in the second by outscoring third-place Humboldt State (14-11, 13-7) in the period, 25-7.
A jumper by junior forward Shandiin Armao put the Tritons ahead by six, and Williams' jumper while fouled made it 24-15 with 7:15 remaining in the second quarter.
Sophomore guard Sydney Sharp returned to the lineup after missing the previous five games and knocked down a 3-pointer off a Tanita assist to put UC San Diego in front by 12, and a Williams' jumper off an assist from Sato made it 33-18 with 2:23 left in the first half.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Sato and Sharp — both off assists from Tanita — gave the Tritons a commanding 42-20 halftime advantage.
Sophomore guard Tyla Turner led Humboldt State with 29 points and eight rebounds, but shot just 11-of-26 from the field. Turner entered the game as the CCAA's leading scorer in conference play.
The Tritons outrebounded the Lumberjacks 36-28 after beginning the week ranked third in the nation in rebounding margin (10.9 per game), and have won the rebounding battle in 20-consecutive games.
UC San Diego returns home to close out the regular season next week with a home games against Cal State Dominguez Hills on Feb. 22 and against Cal State LA on Feb. 24.
#BigWestBound
