OCEANSIDE, Calif.  – For 20 minutes, the Cal State San Marcos women's basketball team went toe-to-toe with visiting Menlo College.  But a dreaded dry spell to start the second half proved to be the difference as the Oaks pulled away to win 67-57 Saturday afternoon at MiraCosta College.
 
Senior Cassie Damyanovich led all scorers with 22 points, sinking 6-of-9 from beyond the 3-point line.  Senior Heather Thompson added 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. 
 
CSUSM took its first lead of the game at 15-14 on a layup by junior Brianna Higgins at the 9:59 mark. An old-fashioned 3-point play by Damyanovich extended the Cougar lead to 18-14.  CSUSM stayed on top for most of the final 10 minutes of the first half, but a Menlo layup with eight seconds remaining gave the Oaks a 35-34 lead at the break.
 
A 7-0 run to open the second half put Menlo up 42-34.  Damyanovich kept the Cougars within striking distance, dropping five of her six 3-pointers in the second half.   One of those treys came at 10:13, cutting the Menlo lead to 50-48.  The Oaks answered with an 8-0 run to take the game out of reach.
 
Menlo had four players reach double-digits with Laurel Donnenwirth and Amber Lane each recording 16 points.
 
CSUSM (6-10) is back in action Wednesday, Jan. 14, hosting Bristol in an exhibition game at MiraCosta College. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.