WOMEN’S BASKETBALL — The UCSD women’s basketball team extended its winning streak to eight games this weekend, after picking up two routine wins on the road against bottom-of-the-conference squads Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State LA.

With the wins, the Tritons improve to 18-9 overall and 16-4 in the CCAA— clinching the third place in the conference standings, and more importantly, securing a home game in the first round of conference playoffs to be played on March 1.

On Friday, the Tritons captured a win against Dominguez Hills, 71-57. It was a much closer contest than the last time the two teams met , when the Tritons handed the Toros a 74-45 thrashing.

The Tritons posted another solid performance — shooting 54 percent from the field in the first period to take an 11-point lead into the second half.

The Toros pulled to within five points at the start of the second half with back-to-back jumpers from guard Jessica Cannon, who finished with nine points on the night. But a field goal from junior guard Chelsea Carlisle and consecutive three-pointers from freshmen forward Elaina White and guard Nicole Anderson-Jew shut the door on the Dominguez rally.

Carlisle finished with a game-high 25 points and seven rebounds.  Junior center Lauren Freidenberg finished with 15 points off 5-of-8 shooting, while sophomore guard Emily Osga tallied 13 points and six rebounds.

On Saturday, the Tritons dealt Cal State LA its 16th conference loss this season in a 71-63 victory.

Carlisle — an All-American and UCSD’s leading scorer in the team’s past nine games — once again stepped up for the Tritons, going 4-of-9 on three-pointers and sinking 21 points on the night.

White and junior guard Daisy Feder also contributed nine points apiece, while freshman guard Megan Perry went three-for-three from behind the arc to finish with 10 points on the night.

Golden Eagle guard Angeline Jefferson and junior forward Lacy Ramon — who tallied 19 points and 23 points, respectively — combined early on in the game to give CSULA an early lead.  But after a quick substitution brought White onto the court, the freshman sunk a jumper to tie the game at six.  A three-pointer on the Tritons’ next possession gave UCSD the lead, which they would not cede for the rest of the game.

Although the Tritons have secured a playoff berth and a first-round home game, next week will be big for UCSD.  The Tritons will finish off their regular season with two consecutive road games against strong conference opponents in Cal Poly Pomona and San Bernardino, who are in second and fourth in the conference, respectively.

“We didn’t play too well this past weekend and we’re definitely going to have to improve for next weekend.” Osga said.

On Thursday, Feb. 24, the Tritons will take on Pomona — a squad with a 17-2 conference record who narrowly bested the Tritons 75-82 last month.  The Tritons will travel to CSU San Bernardino to take on the Coyotes on Friday.

“We are really excited about this next week,” head coach Charity Elliott said.  “We’ve got a real challenge before us with both San Bernardino and Pomona but I sure like the focus and effort of our team right now.”

Readers can contact Rachel Uda at [email protected]