Playing in front of the home crowd at RIMAC Arena has been rewarding for the UCSD women’s basketball team. The Tritons have a commanding 7-2 home record, including a weekend sweep of Sonoma State, 70-60, and San Francisco State, 71-56, on Jan. 28 and Jan. 29, respectively.
Guardian
UCSD (10-6 overall, 6-4 California Collegiate Athletic Association) benefitted from a well-balanced offense Jan. 29 when it hosted San Francisco State (4-13 overall, 3-7 CCAA). Similar to the previous game, the Tritons went on a 15-0 offensive burst in the second half, making it difficult for the Gators to catch up.
Sophomore guard Leora Juster led the way for the Tritons, with 18 points, and currently has the best shooting percentage of all Triton players so far this season, sinking 47.4 percent of her attempts. Meanwhile, UCSD saw a pair of double-doubles from sophomore forward Hillary Hansen, with 16 points and 12 boards, and senior center Margaret Johnson, who added 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Johnson reached a milestone, scoring her 1,000th point in the second half with a jump shot. She is the sixth all-time scorer for the Tritons, with 1,004 points, and is third in rebounds with 809.
Although UCSD struggled from the floor, shooting only 25-for-72, the team was nearly flawless from the free-throw line, going 19-for-22. The Tritons also dominated in rebounds, 53-38, and San Francisco’s paltry 28.6-percent shooting kept the Gators from staying in the game.
However, the Gators’ Biance Rayford contributed 14 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks while Leslie Miller added 13 points.
Against Sonoma State (7-9 overall, 6-3 CCAA) the night before, UCSD exploded offensively, with four players scoring in the double digits. The team was led by Juster, who scored 16 points and went 7-for-11 in shooting. Johnson contributed 15 points and 11 rebounds, followed by sophomore Kim Buffum with 12 points. Junior forward Karina Siam also contributed 11 points for UCSD.
The Tritons took control of the first half and had an eight-point lead heading into halftime. However, the Seawolves bounced back and tied it at 46-46 with just over 11 minutes left to play. UCSD refused to let Sonoma State steal the lead and started a 17-1 scoring run late in the game. The Tritons hung onto their lead for the win in front of 740 fans on Spirit Night.
In the effort, the Seawolves’ Lindsay Van Norstrand and Janelle Lombardi added 12 points apiece while Maribel Ambriz and Genny Anderson each had nine points.
UCSD plays a pair of CCAA games on the road, starting on Feb. 4 against Cal State Los Angeles. The Tritons hold an all-time 8-3 edge over the Golden Eagles. UCSD plays the following day against Cal State Bakersfield, who holds a 2-7 edge over UCSD. However, the Roadrunners suffered their worst CCAA loss to the Tritons just last year on Dec. 3 at RIMAC Arena, 73-59. Tip-off for both games is at 5:30 p.m.
