Box Score OCEANSIDE, Calif. – Cassie Damyanovich hit a 3-pointer with 26 seconds remaining and UC Santa Cruz could not convert a 3-point play that would have tied it back up, as the Cal State San Marcos women's basketball team edged UCSC 67-66 in the Cougars' regular-season finale on Saturday night at MiraCosta College.

After the Banana Slugs erased a five-point deficit in the final minute, the Cougars had another chance to take the lead out of a timeout with 38 seconds remaining. Alexandria Alvarado drove to her right and got into some trouble before kicking it to her right for Damyanovich along the baseline. Damyanovich took the quick shot, swishing it through to make it 67-64.

Erin Joo answered right back for UCSC, making a layup and drawing a foul from the left side that made it 67-66. However, Joo missed her game-tying free throw off to the right.

MacKenzie Harnett was fouled with six seconds left. She missed the front end of her 1-and-1 and the Slugs took off on a fast break. Joo worked herself free once again on the left side, but her running bank-shot attempt was short and the Cougars escaped with the one-point victory.

CSUSM has won four of its last five games and ends the regular season at 13-17 overall. UCSC drops to 18-7 and sees its 10-game winning streak come to an end.

Kimberly Kipp led the Cougars with a game-high 15 points, 14 of them in the second half, while Damyanovich tossed in 12. Alvarado and Brianna Higgins each contributed 11 points. Heather Thompson pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds. Harnett and Sherika Miller dished out four assists each.

CSUSM took an early 12-3 lead, but UCSC clawed its way back to tie it at the 6:52 mark, 19-19. Cold shooting over the last five minutes of the half by CSUSM allowed UCSC to take a four-point lead at the break.

Both teams struggled from the floor in the opening stanza, with the Slugs shooting 26.5 percent to CSUSM's 21.9 percent. The Cougars flipped the script in the second frame and closed with a 58.1 percent clip.

The Slugs kept up their pace out of the intermission, but Kipp took it upon herself to keep the Cougars in it by scoring six straight points, all on layups. The Cougars traded baskets with the Slugs until Miller converted a backdoor layup and Higgins' finger role made it 42-41 in favor of CSUSM with 11 minutes left - the Cougars' first lead since the 6:53 mark of the first half.

UCSC recaptured the lead, but Alvarado's jumper from the left side and a fade away by Thompson kept it at 47-47. Kipp's tough up-and-under made it 49-47, but the Slugs would use a 10-4 run to take a 57-53 lead with just over five minutes remaining.

Damyanovich drained a 3-pointer the next time down the court. The Slugs answered to make in a three-point game, but once again, Alvarado netted a jumper from the elbow to keep CSUSM within one at the 4:15 mark.

Higgins then drew a foul and hit a pair of free throws to give CSUSM a one-point lead with 2:29 left. The Slugs came up empty on their next possession and Higgins made them pay, getting free along the left side before banking one home to make it 62-59.

UCSC had an opportunity to tie it with an open 3-pointer from the left corner, but Geena Giovonetti could not find the mark and Higgins came down with the rebound.

The Cougars came back down the court and used nearly all of the shot clock before Alvarado's jump shot from the top of the key rattled off the front of the rim and in to make it 62-57 with 1:10 left.

UCSC wouldn't go away, however, and Tyler Willis hit a 3-pointer to pull the Slugs within 62-60. UCSC then trapped Damyanovich in the backcourt and forced the guard to dribble the ball out of bounds.

Sarah Mackey would get to the line with 38 seconds left and drain both her shots to tie it at 62-62.

Sensing the momentum shift, the Cougars called timeout to settle the team down and set up a play. Damyanovich, who moments earlier handed the ball back to UCSC, nailed her opportunity from the right side to give the Cougars a 3-point lead that they wouldn't relinquish.

Kipp was 6-of-7 in the second half. Alvarado went 4-of-5.

The Cougars have two weeks off before heading to the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Conference Championship Mar. 7-9 at Life University in Marietta, Ga. The Cougars will most likely need to win the conference tournament in order to qualify for the NAIA National Championship.