For the first time in the school’s history, the No. 14 women’s basketball team took the California Collegiate Athletic Association championship for UCSD on March 3 following an 83-61 win against San Francisco State on Senior Night. The Tritons also notched an 82-68 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay on March 2 to close out the regular season with a 23-4 record.
Senior guard Leora Juster scored 27 points along with seven rebounds and 27 assists in the 83-61 win over San Francisco State on March 3 to push the team’s overall record to 23-4.
By winning the CCAA championships, the Tritons earned the right to host the regional tournament from March 9 to March 12 and will likely be the No. 1 seed. UCSD is also guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Division-II tournament, which will begin on March 21. It is the second year in a row that the team has played in the tournament and the third time in the school’s history.
The Tritons showed that they deserved to be champions by posting impressive wins at home to close out the regular season. UCSD played a close first half against San Francisco State on Senior Night, never falling behind the Gators, but never opening up a large lead either.
“”We were slow at first against S.F. State,”” junior center Jillian Ricks said. “”It was Senior Night, and I think we might have had that in the back of our minds.””
The defenses kept the game close in the first half with the Gators’ defense forcing UCSD to miss its shots and the Tritons’ defense causing the Gators to commit numerous turnovers.
UCSD came out of halftime with renewed energy, ready to put the game away. The Tritons continued their fast-paced game against a tired-looking San Francisco State squad, running the ball down the court and playing aggressive defense.
With strong shooting from senior guard Leora Juster, the Tritons opened up a 60-39 lead with 12 minutes left to play. UCSD went on a 10-0 streak with junior forward Meaghan Noud hitting a three-pointer and Juster completing a three-point play to bring the game to 70-39.
Because of the large UCSD lead, 17 Tritons were able to see some action in the game, including junior guard Kaycie Bull, who hit a three-pointer at the end of regulation, prompting loud cheers from the UCSD bench.
Overall, the Tritons pulled out another impressive victory in a season where victories have been abundant.
“”We played well and definitely came out with a lot of energy,”” Ricks said. “”We were communicating well and working well as a team.””
UCSD started off strong in the game against Cal State Monterey Bay on March 2. The Tritons quickly opened up a 22-8 lead against the Otters, and appeared to be one step ahead of them for most of the game. UCSD’s speedy cuts to the basket left the Otters no choice but to foul the Tritons, allowing UCSD to attempt 16 first-half free throws compared to Cal State Monterey Bay’s four attempts.
The Tritons ended the first half with a 41-28 lead, and the Otters were unable to overcome the deficit in the second half of the game. Juster had a game-high 24 points, Noud added 15 points and sophomore forward Michelle Osier added 19 points and 11 rebounds for UCSD.
The Tritons are hoping that their success in the last two games of their regular season will help them build momentum and win in the postseason.
“”We played hard and got the job done,”” Juster said. “”We’re working toward building up to our maximum potential.””
The Tritons’ ability to post notable individual statistics while playing well as a team is what has given UCSD success so far this season, and the team will try to continue that trend in the coming weeks.
“”I think that we have different players with unique talents and things that they each do really well,”” Ricks said. “”We all connect and play well together.””
UCSD will play its first game of the regional tournament on March 9 at 7:30 p.m. at RIMAC Arena.
Right now, Juster is more focused on UCSD’s upcoming game than winning the school’s first-ever CCAA championship.
“”It’s definitely nice [to win the CCAA championship], but we just care about next Friday,”” she said.
