SAN DIEGO, Calif. – After 619 days away from the court, the NR/No. 19 Cal State San Marcos women's basketball team showed no cobwebs as the Cougars opened their 2021-22 season with a 75-62 victory at NR/RV Point Loma on Tuesday night at Golden Gymnasium.  
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Dynnah Buckner – 20 points | 9-of-17 FG | 5 rebounds | 2 steals
Jordan Vasquez – 19 points | 7-of-8 FG | 10 rebounds | 2 assists
Akayla Hackson – 11 points | 6 steals | 6 assists | 3 rebounds

HOW IT HAPPENED

• At the first media timeout of the game, CSUSM led 9-8 with Dynnah Buckner sinking two jumpers and a pair of free throws.
• Back-to-back 3-pointers by Allie Carreon put PLNU up 16-11 with 2:15 remaining in the first quarter.
• Kate Carlson's two free throws gave CSUSM a 17-16 lead at the conclusion of the first quarter.
• CSUSM's first 3-pointer came at the 7:51 mark of the second quarter from Kelsey Forrester. Sydney Buckley followed it with her own 3-pointer to give the Cougars a 25-18 lead in the first three minutes of the second quarter.
• A Buckley drive down the left side set up for a dish out to Vasquez for a layup to make it 31-24 with 4:23 on the clock.
• A Forrester 3-pointer from the corner extended CSUSM's lead to 40-25 with 1:25 remaining in the second quarter.
• Hackson blocked Haylee Saurette's 3-pointer to end the first half at 44-27.
• CSUSM tallied nine steals to PLNU's two in the opening 20 minutes as the Cougars converted 22 points off turnovers.
• The Cougars shot 51.5% (17-of-33) in the first half after a 66.7% (12-of-18) field-goal shooting performance in the second quarter.
• CSUSM began the third quarter with a 10-0 run to take a 54-27 lead.
• The Cougars largest lead came at 5:31 in the fourth quarter on a Kayden Korst 3-pointer that extended the gap to 28 points (73-45).
• PLNU closed out the game with a 17-2 run.

 
FAST BREAKS

• CSUSM improved to 1-0 while PLNU dropped to 2-1.
• This was the Cougars' 3rd consecutive season-opening win after snapping a seven-year losing streak in season openers.
• Hackson's six steals were the most for a single game in the NCAA era (2015-present) at CSUSM and rank third for a single game in program history.
• Dynnah Buckner's 20 points tied a career high, matching her performance at Cal State LA on Nov. 12, 2019.
• Vasquez registered a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
• The Cougars scored 32 points off PLNU turnovers.
• Forty-four of CSUSM's 75 points came from inside the paint with 17 off second-chance shots.
• Point Loma got 30 points from the bench while CSUSM's contributed eight.
• CSUSM outrebounded the Sea Lions 39-34 with 16 coming on offense.
• The Cougars concluded the game shooting 44.6% (29-of-65) while the Sea Lions ended at 41.5 (22-of-53).
• The Cougars held the lead for 35:24 while PLNU only spent 3:24 on top.

 
UP NEXT
The Cougars will host the CSUSM Hoops Classic this weekend and will take on Seattle Pacific on Friday at 3 p.m. in The Sports Center.