ARCATA, Calif. – Despite not playing for 620 days, the No. 21/12 Cal State San Marcos women's basketball team (21-2, 19-1 CCAA) defended its conference regular-season title after being named 2021-22 CCAA Champions on Saturday night with a 74-49 victory at Cal Poly Humboldt (7-16, 6-13 CCAA).

TOP PERFORMERS
Akayla Hackson – 19 points | 8 rebounds | 2 steals | 1 blocked shot
Jordan Vasquez – 15 points | 11 rebounds | 3 assists
Kate Carlson – 16 points | 7 rebounds
Sydney Buckley – 4 points | 5 rebounds | 5 assists | 2 steals
Dynnah Buckner – 10 points | 4-of-7 FG
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• CSUSM took a 2-0 lead and never looked back, finishing the first 10 minutes with an 18-11 lead.
• The Cougars kept building onto their lead, closing out the second quarter with a 12-point run to take a 36-18 lead into the break.
• CSUSM got 10 of their 36 points on second-chance buckets in the first 20 minutes.
• Buckner got all 10 of her points in the first two quarters, sharing the first-half top scorers title with Carlson.
• CSUSM shot 50% (9-of-18) from the field in the third quarter while outscoring the 'Jacks 20-10 to take a 56-28 lead into the final quarter.
• The Cougars took their largest lead of the game at the 8:30 mark of the fourth quarter on a Hackson layup to make it 61-30.
• CSUSM went the entire second half with a lead of 20 or more over the 'Jacks.
• Hackson scored 16 of her 19 points in the second half.

 
FAST BREAKS

• The Cougars collected their second consecutive regular-season title after sharing the 2019-20 title with then-CCAA member and now NCAA Division I UC San Diego.
• CSUSM extended its program-record win streak to 17 games.
• The Cougars outrebounded the Jacks, 46-27.
• CSUSM's 46 rebounds and 17 offensive boards were its third highest this season.
• The Cougars matched their lowest foul total of the season, finishing with only six.
• For the first time this season, CSUSM avoided getting a shot blocked in the entire 40 minutes.
• CSUSM is 7-4 in the all-time series against Humboldt and 4-3 when playing in Lumberjack Arena.
• Carlson broke her own season-best record set on Thursday with 16 points in Saturday's contest.
• Vasquez picked up her 10th double-double of the season and sixth out of the last eight games. She is now tied as the CCAA leader with Cal State Dominguez Hills' Asia Jordan. 
• With her two steals against Humboldt, Hackson raised her CSUSM career total to 138 and is second all-time in the record books. In just two years at CSUSM, Sarah Jackson (2011-13) recorded 147 steals.

THOUGHTS FROM HEAD COACH RENEE JIMENEZ
"I am so incredibly proud and happy for this group. They did everything we asked of them this year on and off the court. No one deserves this championship more than they do."
 
UP NEXT
As the top seed, the Cougars earned a bye in the first round of the CCAA tournament and will face the winner of Cal State Dominguez Hill and Chico State on Friday at 2:30 p.m. in Arcata.