The UCSD women’s basketball team battled from 10 down in the first half to take control of its Nov. 28 afternoon matchup with the Humboldt State Lumberjacks. The 70-63 victory at the Humboldt State East Gym in Arcata, Calif., improved the Tritons’ record to 2-1 in what was the team’s final tune-up before California Collegiate Athletic Association action.
After falling behind, 21-11, with eight minutes left in the first half, the Tritons relied on stout defense and aggressive offensive play to gain the halftime lead at 32-25.
The Lumberjacks got no closer than within five points of the Tritons during the second half, as UCSD held off any hopes of a comeback with a high .406 second-half shooting average from the field and .455 from behind the three-point arc.
The Tritons generated a huge second-half improvement in shooting, much to the relief of head coach Judy Malone, who saw her team shoot a miserable .278 from the field and .111 from behind the arc in the first half.
“It was a tough road trip,” Malone said. “We had a long drive up from Oakland, and to come out with the win was a great effort by our team.”
Senior center Margaret Johnson led the Tritons in scoring for the third consecutive game with 16 points.
Sophomore forward Hillary Hansen posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and sophomore guard Leora Juster produced 15 points in the game.
“We saw a great game from Hansen on the boards,” Malone said. “Juster did a great job, and Stacy Gallagher-Bolton didn’t score a lot of points, but she was drawing the defense in and kicking the ball out for some of the other players to take great shots.”
The Lumberjacks had strong efforts from leading scorer Nicole Lynch, who had 22 points, six rebounds and four assists, but the Lumberjacks were held without another player scoring in double digits.
The Tritons were strong from the free-throw line, hitting an impressive 18 of 22 shots. All free throws were taken by Johnson, who went eight-for-10, Juster, who was a perfect four-for-four from the line, and Hansen, who went six-for-eight. The strong performance from these players proved to be a deciding factor in the game, as the Lumberjacks only completed two of the three free-throw shots they attempted.
The Tritons, ranked fifth in the recently released CCAA Coaches’ Polls, were aggressive on both ends of the courts. Key factors in the Triton victory were the number of times that UCSD visited the free-throw line compared to the Lumberjacks, coupled with the miserable Humboldt State ball protection, which cost the team 22 turnovers in the game.
UCSD will now begin CCAA action, hosting two-time defending champion and fourth-ranked Cal State Bakersfield on Dec. 3 and sixth-ranked Cal State Los Angeles on Dec. 4, with both games scheduled for 5:30 p.m. start times at RIMAC Arena.
