POMONA, Calif. – The No. 22 Cal State San Marcos women's basketball team (0-1) began its 2023-24 season with a 75-73 loss on Friday against Point Loma (1-0) in the CCAA/PacWest Challenge at Kellogg Arena.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Mina Tameilau – 24 points | 9-of-17 FG| 3 rebounds | 3 steals
Charity Gallegos – 19 points | 8-of-16 FG | 6 rebounds | 4 steals | 4 assists
Malia Mastora – 12 points | 3 blocked shots | 4 rebounds
Jordan Vasquez – 8 points | 8 rebounds
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• PLNU went up 19-12 following the first quarter after shooting 47.4% (9-of-19) from the field.
• Point Loma took its largest lead of the game on a Katie Scott layup after a turnover to make it 30-16 with 5:10 remaining in the second quarter.
• CSUSM outscored the Sea Lions 17-15 in the second quarter but trailed 34-29 at the break.
• PLNU shot 44.1% (15-of-34) in the first half to CSUSM's 37.1% (13-of-35).
• The Cougars took their first lead since the opening minutes of the game on a 3-pointer by Gallegos at the 7:22 mark of the third quarter.
• CSUSM led for 5:51 of the third quarter while PLNU was on top for just 1:59.
• A Gallegos 3-pointer with 3:11 remaining in the game put CSUSM up 69-68.
• A pair of Tameilau made free throws extended the Cougars' lead to 71-68 at the 2:41 mark of the fourth quarter.
• A second-chance layup by Scott followed by a Alyssa Munn 3-pointer gave PLNU a 73-71 lead with 49 seconds remaining.
• Tameilau answered quickly nine seconds later with a layup to even the score at 73-all.
• A Hannah Golan layup was the final bucket of the game that resulted in 75-73 victory for PLNU.
• CSUSM shot 55.2% (16-of-29) from the field to PLNU's 46.9% (15-of-32) in the second half.

 
FAST BREAKS

• Tameilau's 24 points were a CSUSM career best.
• PLNU had a very small edge in field-goal percentage at 45.6% (30-to-66) to CSUSM's 45.3% (29-of-64).
• The Cougars outrebounded the Sea Lions 37-36 with Vasquez posting a game-high eight boards with three coming on the offensive side.
• The Cougars' defense made the Sea Lions commit 20 turnovers while turning the ball over 18 times themselves.
• PLNU got 15 points off second-chance shots while CSUSM only tallied four.
• This was CSUSM's first loss to the Sea Lions since becoming a full-fledged NCAA Division II member.
• PLNU holds a 9-5 lead in the all-time series.
• This was the first time in 14 meetings that the two teams have met on a neutral court.

 
UP NEXT
CSUSM will wrap up its first weekend of the season by facing No. 12 Azusa Pacific on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Kellogg Arena.