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Road Trip Ends With Two CCAA Wins

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL — The No. 21 women’s basketball team
bounced back from two straight losses on the road by taking two California
Collegiate Athletic Association wins, including a nail biter against Cal State
Los Angeles to improve its overall record to 12-4. The Tritons fought hard in a
tight away game to pull off a 60-59 victory on Jan. 12. This came after the
Tritons pulled away in the second half of another tight game to post a 65-52
win against Cal State Dominguez Hills on Jan. 11.

Junior forward Michelle Osier had great overall performances in UCSD’s CCAA road wins on Jan. 11 and 12, tallying 27 points and 19 rebounds. (Erik Jepsen/Guardian File)

From the start of their contest against CSULA, it was clear
that the Tritons were in for a tough game. Junior forward Michelle Osier began
the game with a three-point basket and senior forward Meaghan Noud added a
jumper to give the Tritons a 5-0 lead to start the game. The Golden Eagles
answered right away, taking their first lead of the game with 16:46 left in the
first half.

UCSD and the Golden Eagles went back and forth in the first
half with both teams keeping the game close. Noud led the Tritons in the first
half with 10 points including two three-point baskets, and Osier added nine
points to help extend the Tritons’ lead to 32-28 at the end of the first half.

The second half of the game started out well for the
Tritons, who quickly took a nine-point lead after baskets from sophomore
forward Erin Noonan, senior center Alexis Gaskin and Noud. The Golden Eagles
continued to fight back, keeping the Tritons from opening up a big lead.

UCSD’s shooting troubles in the second half combined with
CSULA’s comeback effort, bringing the game to a 59-59 tie with less than one
minute left in regulation. With 22 seconds left in the game, Osier drew a foul
and made one of two free-throw attempts to give the Tritons a one-point
advantage.

CSULA gained possession of the ball with time to run a play,
but UCSD forced a turnover to seal the win.

“Different people stepped up in the win for us,” head coach
Charity Elliott said. “[Sophomore guard] Annette Ilg had a huge deflection at
the end of the game.”

Noud led the Tritons in scoring with 17 points, Osier added
13 points and nine rebounds and Ilg contributed eight points in the win.

UCSD pulled out the victory despite shooting 33 percent and
losing the rebounding battle. The Tritons did make eight three-point baskets
compared to CSULA’s two.

UCSD started out on the road against Cal State Dominguez
Hills. The Tritons started strongly in their first game of the weekend, taking
a 17-7 lead seven minutes into the game backed by three baskets from Noonan.
The Toros stormed back, eventually cutting the Tritons’ lead to four points
with three minutes left in the first half.

Both teams shot over 50 percent, and the Tritons ended the
first half with a 33-29 lead.

The game remained close in the beginning of the second half
with Noud helping the Tritons’ cause with two early three-point baskets. With
13 minutes left in the game, the Toros threatened to take the lead after tying
the game at 41. However, the Tritons denied the Toros and took control of the
game. UCSD outscored CSUDH 24-11 in the remaining minutes of the game giving
the Tritons a 65-52 win.

The Tritons shot 51 percent in the game led by Noud with 24
points, Noonan with 15 points and Osier with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“It was huge for us to get those wins,” Osier said. “To win
leagues, we’ll probably have to win all our league games from here on out

The wins came at an important time for the Tritons as they
had just suffered two consecutive losses for the first time this season.

“I think we bounced back and responded in two hard-fought
competitive games,” Elliott said.

UCSD will continue its conference play at home against Cal
Poly Pomona on Jan. 18 and Cal State San Bernardino on Jan. 19 and try to improve
its 4-2 CCAA record and move up from fourth place in the league.

“All our games are going to be hard,” senior guard Alexis
Mezzetta said. “[CSUSB] is tied for first place and they have a really good
post player so we have to play smart and work really hard.”

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