To say the UCSD women’s basketball team has had a slow start would be an understatement. Going into its games on Jan. 3 and Jan. 4, the team was still looking for its first win of the season against California Collegiate Athletic Association opponents CSU Stanislaus and CSU Baskersfield.
Guardian
On Jan. 3, the Tritons got off to a hot start against the Warriors from Stanislaus, jumping out to a quick 8-2 lead. But UCSD’s turnovers, as well as the dominance of Warriors’ forward Aprile Powell and guard Nina Roberts, led a Cal State Stanislaus comeback that gave the Warriors a 36-33 halftime lead.
In the second half, Cal State Stanislaus continued to play the inside-out game with Powell, who finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds, as well as Roberts, who had a game-high 20 points.
Down 62-49 after consecutive baskets by Roberts, UCSD fought back to make the score 57-62 late in the game. But that was as close as the team came when Cal State Stanislaus made their late free throws to end the game ahead 72-61.
“”I feel like the team is doing some good things,”” said UCSD head coach Judy Malone. “”We’re out-rebounding people and working really hard. But we self-destructed in the final three minutes tonight.””
UCSD beat the Warriors 43-42 on the glass, but the Tritons had 21 turnovers to Cal State Stanislaus’ 10.
“”When we break down, it seems to be on offense,”” said forward Margaret Johnson. “”When our offense is flowing, our defense has a chance to get back and get in a rhythm as well.””
On Jan. 4, the Tritons faced CSU Bakersfield. The ‘Runners jumped out to a 12-point lead in the first half. But a 12-4 run by the Tritons cut the Roadrunners’ lead to four at intermission.
The Roadrunners took control of the game in the beginning of the second half with a 25-12 run to make the score 59-40 with 8:02 left. Sparked by a four-point play from junior Ali Ginn, the Tritons would cut the deficit to 12 with 4:41 to play. But UCSD couldn’t get any closer, and Cal State Bakersfield pulled away again and finished ahead 73-51.
“”This is one of the top teams in our conference,”” said senior captain Nicholle Bromley. “”It’s frustrating to be so close at halftime and then lose like we did.””
For Cal State Bakersfield, center Heather Garay had a huge night with game highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds.
“”She’s an All-American, but we played her weak,”” Malone said. “”We let her do things that we talked about not letting her do.””
The Tritons once again out-rebounded their opponents, but committed 22 turnovers while Cal State Bakersfield had just 10.
“”They got a lot of offensive rebounds in the second half and that hurt us,”” said Ginn, who had team highs of 16 points and seven rebounds in the game. “”Our effort and heart are there, but we need to keep our heads up. It’s mental things now [that we need to work on]. We have to get mentally tough.””
With the loss, the Tritons dropped to 0-9 on the season.
The Tritons will again search for that elusive first win against CSU Dominguez Hills on Jan. 10 and CSU Los Angeles on Jan. 11.
