WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ‘mdash; ‘Success is addictive ‘mdash; especially when we do it together,’ senior center Alexis Gaskin said.
For the 25th ranked UCSD women’s basketball team, ‘success’ would be the precise word to describe the season thus far. Over the weekend, the Tritons picked up another pair of wins with a 60-58 defeat of Cal State Monterey Bay on Jan. 16 and a 63-48 victory over San Francisco State on Jan. 17, extending their record to an impressive 15-2 overall and a perfect 8-0 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
Down 11-5 with 12:07 left in the first half
against San Francisco State, the Tritons scored 14 unanswered points to take the lead. A layup by junior forward Erin Noonan and a three-pointer by freshman guard Chelsea Carlisle brought the Tritons to within one. Following suit, junior guard Annette Ilg, Carlisle, junior forward Kristen Cabral and senior forward Michelle Osier each scored to put UCSD on top 19-11. With their offense firing on all cylinders, the Tritons all but put the game away by the half, leading 34-18.
The Gators sunk to a quick defeat early in the second half as UCSD put the game securely out of reach. Just four minutes into the period, the Tritons led by 20 and then went on a 15-4 run, increasing their lead to 61-31, which anchored a budding victory for UCSD. A tip-in by sophomore center Allison Westin capped UCSD’s winning drive at 63, while San Francisco State chipped away at its deficit late in the game, ultimately losing by 15 points.
UCSD spread the ball around well in the game with nine different Tritons scoring in the win.
‘Most teams have difficulty with us because we are so deep,’ Osier said. ‘We are a threat from every position. If one girl is having an off night, we can be sure that another will step up and get the job done.’
Noonan led the Tritons with a total of 12 points, hitting 4-of-7 shots from the field, including 3-of-5 from behind the three-point line.
‘In both games, we went on a run because we converted on our offensive opportunities,’ Noonan said. ‘When we buckled down and played solid defense, we got deflections, defensive rebounds and steals, which led to extra opportunities for us to score and we converted. Both teams this weekend hustled the whole game, but we played smart and took advantage of the opportunities we had.’
Carlisle also had a strong night, scoring 11 points, dishing out five assists and pulling down a career-best eight boards. Meanwhile, Ilg and Gaskin contributed eight points each.’ ‘
Not only did the victory keep the Tritons’ perfect CCAA record intact, it also marked a new record in school history. Osier surpassed alumna Mary Egan’s career total of 1,038 rebounds to become UCSD’s all-time rebounding leader. The extraordinary moment came as Osier collected rebound number 1,039 on a defensive board 3:46 into the second half.
‘It feels pretty good, but there are more important records I’d like to break, such as going undefeated in league and winning a national championship,’ Osier said.
Head coach Charity Elliott was less modest in her praise of Osier, who broke the record, set in 1982.
‘Michelle Osier is just a tremendous leader, both on the court and off the court,’ Elliot said. ‘She has put in the time and effort necessary to be the elite player that she is. She has made herself into such a complete player and I’m very proud of her being the new all-time leader in rebounds in UCSD history.’
Friday’s game against Cal State Monterey Bay was another testament to the Tritons’ success this season. Ilg was first to fire things off for UCSD with a three-pointer, but the Otters kept it a tight game going into the half as a jumper by Gaskin and a layup by freshman center Lauren Freidenberg offered the Tritons a slim lead of 37-31. ‘ True to form, UCSD came back into the second half with its defense firing on all cylinders, stifling the Otters by limiting them to just 9-of-29 shooting, down from 48 percent in the first half to 31 percent in the second half.
‘Our defense is very team-based so there were a few rotations that we were a little slow on in the first half and I thought we sharpened up after halftime and limited them to tough, contested shots,’ Elliot said. ‘We also did a much better job this weekend of giving our opponents only one shot and getting the defensive rebound.” ‘
According to Noonan, the second half was all about fine-tuning.
‘Coming out of the first half at [Cal State Monterey Bay], we realized that we hadn’t done what we needed to do on defensive,’ she said. ‘Just the little things we weren’t doing were adding up. In the second half, we came out solid and played our usual tough defense. We put more of a stress of pressuring the ball, denying passes and rebounding, which is what we take pride in doing.’
Already leading 39-34, a layup by junior guard Leilani Martin, a three-pointer by Ilg and a layup by Gaskin propelled the Tritons into their 21-4 run to devastate Cal State Monterey Bay.
‘ ‘In both games, both teams were quick to capitalize on any mistakes that we made ‘mdash; they attacked the openings,’ Gaskin said. ‘So just like in many games prior to this weekend, we adjusted and tightened up on defense. We also had to be sure to capitalize on their mistakes. With our defense closing off any openings and contesting every shot, we were able to force more mistakes, and then on the other end, we worked as a team to capitalize on their turnovers or missed shots.’
Gaskin made seven of her eight shots from the field to lead the Triton scorers with 14 points and a career-high nine assists. Ilg and Osier also turned in solid numbers, as Ilg was 5-of-7 from the floor, served up a total of 12 points, five assists and two steals; likewise, Osier scored 11 total points and had two steals. The Tritons put the game away at 69-58.
For the Tritons, winning all eight games against their CCAA rivals is a tremendous accomplishment ‘mdash; but it also comes with a price.
‘I think there is definitely a bull’s eye on our backs now and that means every team is going to bring their best when they play us,’ Elliot said. ‘We just have to endure their runs and keep fighting till we wear them out. We talk a lot about momentum and how we keep it and how we get it back when the other team has it.’
According to Gaskin, the Tritons’ positive winning energy acts as a constant motivator.
‘Now that we’ve seen what we can accomplish together as a team, we know we can do anything we set our minds to,’ she said.
For Noonan, the prospect of going undefeated presents the team with both challenging and exciting opportunities.
‘Coming out of this weekend 8-0 is a huge deal,’ Noonan said. ‘There has never been a team that has gone undefeated in our conference, so the opportunity to make history pumps us up.’
This week, the Tritons will put their winning streak on the line when they face the Cal State Stanislaus Warriors on Jan. 23 and Chico State University on Jan. 24. Tip-off for both games is slated for 5:30 p.m. at RIMAC Arena.’
Readers can contact Brianna Lee at’ [email protected].