The UCSD women’s basketball team earned a split from its back-to-back games on the road on Jan. 23 and Jan. 24. The team defeated Cal State Stanislaus on Jan. 23, 90-72, but dropped the game the next night to California Collegiate Athletic Association leaders Cal State Bakersfield. This moved the Tritons’ record to 9-6 overall and 5-5 in league play.
Guardian file
Against Cal State Stanislaus, the Tritons jumped out to a large, early lead of 12-0 with junior Margaret Johnson contributing eight. The Warriors battled back and cut the lead to three points at the half.
“”I told them we have to get on the boards or they are going to beat us,”” UCSD head coach Judy Malone said of her halftime comments in the locker room. “”We boxed out much better the second half.””
Cal State Stanislaus continued to fight back and was within one point with 13 minutes remaining, but a strong run by the Tritons put them comfortably ahead. UCSD slowly pulled away and ended up with an 18-point victory.
This was the Tritons’ first of their previous five games that was not decided by 10 or fewer points, but Malone was hesitant to say it was a comfortable victory.
“”It was much closer than it looked,”” she said. “”We were only able to pull away at the end.””
Johnson finished with a career-high 28 points in addition to her seven rebounds. Senior Ali Ginn and freshman Leora Juster each added 21 points.
“”Margaret [Johnson] was amazing the first half, and Leora [Juster] and Ali [Ginn] took over in the second half,”” Malone said of her players’ performances.
Junior center Shavaki Jackson had 31 points for Cal State Stanislaus, but lacked help from her teammates.
“”They had a huge post player [Jackson] that we were having trouble with but we shut down all their outside scoring,”” Malone said.
Cal State Stanislaus dropped their record to 5-9 overall and 2-7 in the CCAA.
UCSD looked to keep the momentum going against a very tough Cal State Bakersfield team the following evening, and it appeared at the start that the Tritons might be headed for an upset. They were up 20-11 midway through the first half, but saw their lead cut to one by halftime, as the Roadrunners were able to overcome poor shooting to begin the game.
Cal State Bakersfield surged to start the second half and forced numerous turnovers to build a healthy lead. UCSD managed only eight points in the first 15 minutes of the second half. The Roadrunners cruised to a 79-61 victory, thanks in large part to the 27 turnovers the Tritons committed.
No Triton scored in double figures. Junior Katie McGann and freshman Megan Niedermeyer both had nine points, and Johnson added seven points and 10 rebounds.
Cal State Bakersfield, meanwhile, had four players score 10 or more points, led by senior guard Jasmere Kirby with 22.
Cal State Bakersfield maintained its conference lead by improving to 8-2 in the CCAA. The Roadrunners are 12-3 overall.
UCSD returns to home action at RIMAC Arena on Jan. 30 and Jan. 31 to face CCAA rivals Sonoma State and San Francisco State who are both tied for fifth place prior to this week’s play. Tip-off for both games will be at 5:30 p.m.
