SAN MARCOS, Calif. – A 21-8 fourth quarter lifted the No. 16/NR Cal State San Marcos women's basketball team (6-1, 3-0 CCAA) to a 78-59 CCAA victory over San Francisco State (4-5, 1-3 CCAA) on Thursday night in The Sports Center.
TOP PERFORMERS
Dynnah Buckner – 19 points | 7-of-11 FG | 4 rebounds
Kelsey Forrester – 12 points | 4-of-5 FG | 5 rebounds | 2 steals
Charity Gallegos – 10 points | 3 steals
Deannah Buckner – 6 points | 6 rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Cougars trailed 16-12 at the end of the first quarter after shooting 25% (4-of-12) from field while the Gators turned in a 41.2 (7-of-17) field-goal percentage.
- CSUSM took its first lead of the game at 2:08 of the second quarter on a pair of free throws by Dynnah Buckner to make it 29-27.
- Despite only shooting 38.5% from the field in the second quarter, CSUSM knotted the game at 31-all at the halftime break.
- A Dynnah Buckner baseline layup to open the third quarter gave CSUSM a 33-31 lead.
- The Gators responded with an 8-2 run to take a 39-35 lead at the 7:24 mark capped by a Joelene Armendariz 3-pointer.
- A pair of free throws and a Mina Tameilau layup sparked a 9-0 run for the Cougars to go up 46-39 with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
- A steal by Forrester and a fast-break layup by Katie FitzGerald put CSUSM up 57-51 at the end of the third quarter.
- CSUSM shot 64.3% from the field and outscored SF State 26-20 in the third quarter.
- The CSUSM offense exploded in the final quarter, outscoring the Gators 21-8.
- The Cougars took their largest lead of the game at the 2:32 mark of the fourth quarter on Malia Mastora's 3-pointer to make it 75-53.
- CSUSM shot 64.29% (9-of-14) from the field while holding SF State to 25% (2-of-8). The Gators went 0-of-3 from behind the arc and 4-of-8 at the free throw line in the final 10 minutes.
FAST BREAKS
- With Thursday's victory, Head Coach Renee Jimenez is one win away from her 100th CSUSM victory.
- The Cougars extended their conference regular-season win streak to 20 games that began on Dec. 9, 2021 with a 76-70 victory at Cal State Monterey Bay.
- CSUSM led for 20:08 of the game and 16:34 of the second half.
- The Cougars tallied a season-high 12 steals in the contest while forcing the Gators to make 19 turnovers.
- The Gators had a slight edge in rebounds at 32-30.
- Eleven different Cougars contributed to the scoring while SF State had just eight.
- The Cougars scored 42 of their 78 points in the paint while SF State had just 28 of their 59 points.
- CSUSM converted on 19 fast breaks while the Gators were only able to score on three.
- Twenty-five of CSUSM's points came from turnovers to SF State's 15.
- The Cougars improved to 9-2 in the all-time series against SF State and 5-1 when playing in San Marcos.
UP NEXT
The Cougars will close out their 2022 home schedule on Saturday when they host Cal State Monterey Bay at 1 p.m. in The Sports Center.
