The UCSD women’s basketball team is chomping at the bit of another opportunity to participate in the NCAA Division II tournament this season. Eager and raring to go, the Tritons kicked off their 2005-06 exhibition season with a dominating 79-48 win against the Biola University Eagles on Nov. 11 at Chase Gym in La Mirada, Calif.
The team took control of the game quickly with superior offense. With four of the Triton women scoring in the double digits, the squad dictated the contest. Freshman Cecily Connor led the team in her collegiate debut, scoring 26 points on 11 of 15 shots from the floor. Sharpshooter Connor also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and five steals. Junior transfer Krystle Flower, from College of San Mateo, racked up 13 points and four rebounds to contribute to the effort.
Junior guard Leora Juster, who averaged 14.7 points per game last season and earned All-California Collegiate Athletic Association honors, scored another 13 points, as did fellow returning junior guard Kim Buffum. Juster, voted best offensive player by the team last year, went nine-for-10 from the free-throw line, while Buffum, who played in each of the 27 games last season, was two-for-four from behind the three-point line. Buffum’s three-point contributions accounted for all but one of the UCSD three-pointers in the game.
Sophomore forward Alexis Mezzetta, who played in 11 games her rookie season, saw 23 minutes of playing time in her first collegiate start for the Tritons. Mezzetta tallied seven points to go along with her game-high five assists.
Head coach Janell Jones played 14 players in the game after the Tritons ended the first half with a commanding 24-point lead at 43-19. The team shot 28-for-54, 52 percent, from the floor, most of which was due to success at the charity stripe, going 16-for-23 in the first half, a stellar 69 percent.
Linda Oguga, who had 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds, led Biola. Crystal Duncan and Rochelle Crawford each contributed eight points in the loss for the Eagles.
The contest was Jones’ debut, who was hired in July as the fourth head coach in Triton women’s basketball history. Jones is a large part of why the UCSD team has reason to be optimistic about this year’s upcoming season. Jones brings a new style to her team of 16, one that yielded 175 wins, only 14 losses and four National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Division I titles in seven seasons as coach at Oklahoma City University. Jones replaces Judy Malone, who retired last year after 29 seasons at UCSD.
Jones joins seven returning veteran players, two of whom are red shirts, and several new prospects. The team has been practicing hard since October, hoping for a repeat of last season’s success, with a record of 17-10. However, the team must build on last year’s record, which was marred after just missing the NCAA Division II tournament following a heart-breaking loss to Sonoma State.
Following the Nov. 13 second and final exhibition game, a contest against the Arizona Venom, the Tritons will kick off their regular season with a home game on Nov. 16 against Alaska Fairbanks, the first of two meetings with the Nanooks slated for this season. Following Thanksgiving break, the team will travel to Irvine to participate in the two-day Concordia Tournament.
