CHICO, Calif. – Five Cougars scored double figures to lift the Cal State San Marcos women's basketball team (9-2, 7-1 CCAA) to a 76-60 victory over Chico State (5-6, 2-4 CCAA) on Thursday night at Art Acker Gymnasium.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Akayla Hackson – 15 points | 7 rebounds | 7-of-8 FT | 2 assists
Kelsey Forrester – 14 points | 3 3PT | 2 rebounds
Jordan Vasquez – 12 points | 8 rebounds | 4 assists | 4-of-8 FG
Dynnah Buckner – 11 points | 8 rebounds
Kate Carlson – 10 points | 7 rebounds | 6-of-6 FT
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Cougars wasted no time as Forrester and Dynnah Buckner hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the opening minute.
• CSUSM went into an almost four-minute scoring drought until Katie FitzGerald sunk a 3-pointer from the right side to make it 13-5 at the 3:57 mark.
• The Cougars held a 22-9 lead after the first quarter after shooting 61.5% (8-for-13) from the field while holding the Wildcats to a 17.6% (3-of-17).
• CSUSM took its largest lead (24-11) of the first half on Hackson's two made free throws at the 9:27 mark of the second quarter.
• In the first five minutes of the second quarter, Chico State went on a 14-4 run with CSUSM's four points coming off free throws to make it 26-23.
• Kayden Korst's layup made it 28-23 with 4:16 remaining in the second quarter.  
• CSUSM finished the first half with a 37-31 lead over the Wildcats despite going 3-of-11 (27.3) from the field in the second quarter.
• Chico State rebounded from the first quarter's performance with a 60.0 field-goal percentage (9-of-15) in the second.
• The Cougars were perfect at the charity stripe (11-of-11) in the first 20 minutes of the game.
• The Wildcats snagged eight offensive boards to CSUSM's two in the first half.
• CSUSM took a 56-47 lead into the final quarter after outscoring the Wildcats 19-16 in the third quarter.
• Hackson's 3-pointer with 25 seconds remaining on the clock gave CSUSM its largest lead of the game, which became the final score.
• Five of CSUSM's 20 points in the fourth quarter came off Wildcat turnovers.
• Hackson tallied nine of her 15 points in the final 10 minutes of the game with six coming from behind the arc.

 
FAST BREAKS

• In the third quarter, Hackson connected on her first of two free throws to become CSUSM's career leader. She passed former teammate Jon'Nae Vermillion's 201 free throws and will only add to her record with 12 games remaining in the regular season.
• For the second consecutive game and third time this season, CSUSM tallied a season-low nine turnovers.
• Fifteen of CSUSM's points came on fast breaks while the Wildcats only collected two.
• The Cougars shot 95.7% (22-of-23) from the free-throw line while Chico State only went to the charity stripe eight times and made only five.
• For the first time this season, CSUSM led from wire-to-wire in the game.
• The Wildcats had a slight edge on the boards at 38-37.

 
UP NEXT
With Saturday's game at Stanislaus deemed a no contest due to COVID protocols, the Cougars will be back on the court next Thursday when they take on Cal Poly Pomona at 5:30 p.m. in Pomona.