WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ‘mdash; No. 8 Cal State San Bernardino delivered the first 2009 California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament shocker when it upset the top-seeded Tritons Tuesday evening in the quarterfinals, 57-62. The loss, which marks the second time this season UCSD fell to the Coyotes, forfeits the Tritons’ hopes of winning a CCAA Tournament title. Forced to exit early, the women’s basketball team, which is currently ranked No. 2 in the West Region, now awaits Sunday’s decision of the 64-team NCAA Tournament field.
‘As frustrating as it is, we will get over this loss,’ senior forward Michelle Osier said. ‘We have to. Even though we’ve made it much more difficult on ourselves, we will enter regionals with the fire and the faith that we can do anything. We just have to bring it every second of every game from here on out. It’s do or die.’
UCSD appeared to be on its usual road to domination, leading 11-4 seven minutes into the first half. But senior forward Jaclyn Rainville’s three-point play followed by junior guard Krystal Urzua’s three pointer trimmed Cal State San Bernardino’s deficit to four. For the rest of the period, there were three ties with the lead never extending beyond three points. The Tritons entered halftime with the score tied. The second half proved just as tight, when senior center Alexis Gaskin’s jumper tied the score again at 41 with 14:50 left to play. UCSD fired off a 9-1 run to boost its advantage to 50-42. The Coyotes answered, outscoring the Tritons 14-3, highlighted by Urzua’s three pointer that stole the lead at 56-53. With just under three minutes to play, a foul by UCSD allowed sophomore guard Lisa Takata to sink a pair of free throws and maintain a three-point advantage. Then, senior center Artaishia Waters came through with a layup to put the Coyotes up 60-55. As the clock dwindled down to 53 seconds, freshman guard Chelsea Carlisle notched a jumper to keep the Tritons’ hopes alive, but UCSD was forced to foul in the final 10 seconds and ceded the final two points to free throws, allowing Cal State San Bernardino to celebrate its unpredicted 62-57 victory.
‘Overall, our one-on-one defense just wasn’t good enough,’ Osier said. ‘Even after going through their tendencies all week, we allowed too many threes and uncontested shots. We simply need to take more pride in our defense. Regional games are going to be much tougher than this one.’
Despite the loss, Osier put in another outstanding effort with 22 points, 12 rebounds and five steals. Junior guard Leilani Martin chipped in with 12 points and four rebounds while Gaskin finished with eight points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Although both teams had similar shooting performances from the field, the Coyotes made 75 percent of their free throws, compared to UCSD’s 53 percent.
The Tritons still had something to commemorate on Wednesday, learning that Osier was named the CCAA’s Most Valuable Player in addition to her fourth straight All-CCAA First Team selection. Carlisle was selected as’ Freshman of the Year. Gaskin earned her first career all-conference selection. Head coach Charity Elliott took home Coach of the Year honors.
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