Box Score

Cal State San Marcos women's basketball got its first official win in its first-ever home game Saturday night, defeating a very strong Master's College squad 58-52 in front of an enthusiastic home crowd at MiraCosta College.

CSUSM improves to 1-3 on the season.  Master's suffers its first loss and is now 2-1.

After the Cougars' lackluster showing in Friday night's loss at USD, a seemingly different squad hit the floor Saturday night.  CSUSM played up-tempo, pressure basketball, never letting Master's get into any kind of rhythm on offense.  The fast pace did lead to plenty of mistake – 28 turnovers for the game – but forced Master's into 23 turnovers of their own and forced them away from the paint, holding them to an incredible 23.8% shooting for the game.

The Cougars, on the other hand, shot a very good 48.9% on the night, with all five starters shooting 50% or better.  Gabriell Munsch led all scorers with 13 points, showing off a nice jump shot to go along with her inside game.  Sarah Jackson shot 3-for-3 from the field and scored 10 points, and filled up the box score with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals.  Center Danielle Cooper had a game-high 9 rebounds to go with her 6 points, and point guard Sidney Dobner recorded a quiet 7 points and 4 rebounds.  Guard Justine Chacon committed 7 turnovers but finished 4-of-8 from the field with 9 points.

The Cougars took the lead early and never let it go, though Master's closed to within 4 late in the second half as CSUSM struggled with turnovers.  But a monster three by Chacon in the game's final minutes halted the Master's run and effectively ended the game.

CSUSM will be back at home on Monday to face another tough GSAC team, Westmont College, at 7:30 at MiraCosta.