It’s no surprise that the Tritons, the No. 25 Division II team in the nation and the No. 2 team in the NCAA West Region, continue to breeze through their California Collegiate Athletic Association competition. They bump opponents out of their comfort zones, and put themselves up in rankings with ease night after night, including this past weekend, when their winning streak reached 10 games. While nerves flared up after the close call on Jan. 27 when they barely came out on top against Sonoma State with a 69-65 win, the game against San Francisco State on Jan. 28 was an entirely different story. The Tritons gained a secure lead early on and kept the Gators struggling until the bitter end when UCSD finally finished them off with an intimidating 93-57 win.
San Francisco State took the Tritons on a little ride at the start of Saturday’s game, as the Gators pushed the Tritons behind by one point after only three minutes of play, but the Gators’ lead was short-lived. UCSD completed a 15-4 run over the next four minutes to lift the Tritons to a 10-point advantage, which they held firmly in their grasp for the remainder of the game. They led by 15 at halftime and scored 56 points in the second half to come away with the win.
Everybody chipped in for the victory. Freshman forward Michelle Osier had a big night, scoring 16 points and pulling in a career-high 19 rebounds. Junior guard Leora Juster added 16 points, junior forward Hillary Hansen contributed 14 and junior guard Kim Buffum and freshman forward Meaghan Noud completed the double-digit-scoring pack with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Juster and Osier again seemed to be the ringleaders this weekend, as they have in many of the Tritons’ earlier victories. Against Sonoma State, they combined for 46 points, despite a first half that saw the Tritons deadlocked with the Seawolves at 33 points at intermission. The halftime chat with head coach Janelle Jones proved effective, because the Tritons came out in the second half on a 20-7 run, which pushed them up by 13 with 13 minutes remaining on the clock. The Sonoma State team fought hard to pull ahead and nearly did, but in the end they just couldn’t break UCSD’s rhythm.
With the Tritons’ 10-game winning streak still alive and their momentum driving them to big wins, movement in the charts is only headed in one direction: up. The Tritons improved to 14-2 overall and still remain tied with No. 17 Cal State Bakersfield atop the CCAA standings with 9-1 league records. The Tritons will have a chance to separate themselves from Cal State Bakersfield when they play Cal State Los Angeles on Feb. 3 — a revenge game, as the Golden Eagles are the only team so far to beat them in CCAA play this season. Then the Tritons will face the team they are neck-and-neck with atop the league standings on Feb. 4. The Tritons will look to use homefield advantage to take sole possession of the CCAA league lead.
