WOMEN’S BASKETBALL — The UCSD women’s basketball team capped the weekend with two wins at home, beating San Francisco State 59-52 on Thursday and upsetting No. 25 Cal State Monterey Bay in a 58-48 victory on Spirit Night on Saturday.
The Tritons cut it close in their game against bottom-of-the-conference San Francisco State, letting a 21-point lead dwindle down to just seven points with less than two minutes left to play.
With a nine-point cushion at halftime, the Tritons began the second half by going on an 11-2 run to increase their lead to 20 points, at which point the Triton starters were replaced by a young UCSD bench.
Within the next 10 minutes, Gator forwards Sherika Miller and Dominique Miller led San Francisco State in a 20-5 run, cutting the deficit to just seven points.
With the game in danger, head coach Charity Elliott put her starters back on the court to finish the match, holding out for a 59-52 win.
“Any time I have an opportunity to get some more experience for the younger kids, I want to do that,” Elliott said. “But, obviously the most important thing at the end of the night is to get the win. I felt like we were too panicky, too timid, and we turned the ball over too many times.”
Junior guard Chelsea Carlisle led the Tritons in scoring, finishing 15 points on the night. Junior center Lauren Freidenberg recorded 11 points, while junior guard Daisy Feder ended the night with 10 points.
The Tritons then took on nationally ranked Cal State Monterey Bay on Spirit Night this past Saturday. Playing in front of 1,049 supporters, the Tritons battled a tough Monterey squad — who held an 18-1 record overall — before handing the Otters their second loss of the season.
Four Tritons scored in double-digits against the Otters. Carlisle, Freidenberg and Feder had another strong offensive showing, while sophomore guard Emily Osga recorded her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 boards.
But the game was won on the other end of the court, as UCSD held Monterey Bay — a team that averages 41 percent from the field — to just 28 percent shooting. The Otters shot an abysmal 17-of-60 from the field, and finished only eight out their 30 free throw opportunities.
“Our defense kept us in this game,” Carlisle said. “We weren’t shooting well, but we defended like we never defended before. And this crowd, they propelled us, they gave us the energy we needed to get this win.”
The Otters took the early lead with a jumper from center Julie Heurung, but back-to-back layups from Carlisle and Osga secured a lead for the Tritons that would last the duration of the match. The Tritons extended that lead to as many as 16 points with five minutes remaining in the first half. The Otters never closed the gap to less than four for the rest of the game.
Elliott lauded her squad for the win against the conference’s top team.
“I am so proud of this team,” Elliott said. “I am so proud how we just buckled down and we fought and we fought and we fought. Monterey is a great team, and I’ve thought we really did a fantastic job defensively sticking to the game plan.”
With the pair of wins, the Tritons improve to 14-9 overall and 12-4 in the CCAA, where they sit in fourth place.
UCSD has two more games at home this week. The Tritons will host Cal State Stanislaus on Thursday, Feb. 10 and Chico State on Saturday, Feb. 12.
Readers can contact Rachel Uda at [email protected].
