The UCSD women’s basketball team traveled to San Francisco State and Sonoma State on Feb. 6 and Feb. 7 to repeat its performance of last weekend at UCSD.
Guardian file
Last week, the Tritons beat San Francisco State, 71-57, and lost a tough game to Sonoma State, 60-55. The results were almost identical on the road. UCSD easily handled San Francisco State 62-44 and lost another close contest to Sonoma State, 70-65.
UCSD moved its overall record to 11-8, with a 7-7 California Collegiate Athletic Association record. San Francisco State dropped to 9-9 overall and 5-8 in the CCAA, while Sonoma improved to 12-7 overall and 9-5 in the CCAA.
UCSD played both games without its leading scorer and rebounder, junior Margaret Johnson.
“”It hurt not having her there,”” freshman guard Leora Juster said. “”She’s a solid presence. But people picked up for her.””
This did not seem to affect the Tritons in the first game against the Lancers, as they bounced back from an early deficit to take an 11-9 lead in the opening minutes, then kept the lead for the rest of the game. UCSD was up 31-18 at half time, having finished the half on an 8-0 run.
In the second half, UCSD never led by fewer than 13 points and led by as many as 20. They won 62-44, thanks in large part to UCSD’s 41-percent field goal percentage versus San Francisco State’s 28 percent.
Juster led the team in scoring with 18 points, and junior center Stacy Bolton-Gallagher had a solid all-around game with eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
Juster noticed the solid play of Bolton-Gallagher over the past couple of weeks.
“”She’s been playing great,”” Juster said. “”Real good.””
Chrissy Ridenour had 18 points for the Lancers to go along with 11 rebounds and four blocks.
On Feb. 7, UCSD again played a difficult game against the Sonoma State. The first half was extremely close, with neither team being able to open up a lead larger than three points. The Seawolves led at the half by a score of 34-31.
The Seawolves were able to lengthen their lead slightly, as they pushed the lead to seven points before seeing it vanish. The teams remained close for the rest of the game, and were tied at 58 with less than two minutes remaining.
Sonoma State went on to score the next five points and hit free throws in the last minutes to put the game out of reach. It was UCSD’s second-straight loss by a margin of five points to the Seawolves, this time, 70-65.
Bolton-Gallagher continued her strong play by scoring 15 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Andrea Herold had 10 points, and junior forward Katie McGann added 13 points and five rebounds for the Tritons.
Junior guard Tara Whiteside had a game-high 22 points for Sonoma State. She also added six rebounds. No other player from Sonoma State scored in double digits.
The team returns home for two games when it faces Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State Stanislaus on Feb. 13 and Feb. 14, respectively. Tip-off for both games is at 5:30 p.m. at RIMAC Arena.
Cal State Bakersfield is currently 15-4 overall while Cal State Stanislaus is 7-12 overall.
