AZUSA, Calif. – The No. 22 Cal State San Marcos women's basketball team (1-2) picked up its first win of the 2023-24 season, taking down RV Western Washington (2-1), 73-68, on Friday night at the Felix Event Center on the campus Azusa Pacific.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Ava Ranson – 18 points | 6-of-10 FG | 3 assists
Mina Tameilau – 16 points | 6-of-13 FG
Charity Gallegos – 15 points | 5 assists | 4 steals
Jordan Vasquez – 5 points | 8 rebounds | 3 assists

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first quarter ended with both teams barely getting double digits, finishing the 10 minutes at 10-all.
• CSUSM opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run capped by a Truitt Reilly second-chance turnaround jumper to put the Cougars up 16-10 with 8:36 remaining.
• With 1:20 remaining in the second quarter, a Ranson 3-pointer gave CSUSM its first double-digit lead at 33-22.
• The Cougars took a 33-24 lead into the break after shooting 48.1% (13-of-27) from the field while holding WWU to 36.0% (9-of-25).
• The Vikings went 0-of-6 from the 3-point line in the first half while CSUSM went 2-of-4.
• The Cougars won the second quarter in scoring at 25-14.
• CSUSM took its largest lead of the game on a Gallegos fast-break layup that made it 39-24 at the 8:10 mark of the third quarter.
• The Vikings came charging back, cutting CSUSM's lead to two points at 5:19 with a pair of made free throws by Aspen Garrison.
• Less than three minutes later, WWU evened the score at 63-all on a Walling jumper at 1:46.
• A Malia Mastora layup followed by an old-fashion 3-pointer by Ranson gave CSUSM a 5-point cushion with just under a minute remaining.
• Gallegos made three of her four free throws to clinch the win at 71-68.

 
FAST BREAKS

• CSUSM shot 48.2% (27-of-56) for the game while WWU turned in a 50.0% (26-of-52) performance.
• The Cougars sunk two more 3-pointers than the Vikings in the contest.
• San Marcos led for 28:13 of the game with WWU on top for just 4:23 and only in the first half.
• CSUSM got 15 points from its bench while WWU only got two points.
• The Vikings collected 28 points in the paint to CSUSM's 22.
• WWU had a slight edge on rebounds against CSUSM at 30-28 with the Cougars pulling one more offensive board than the Vikings.
• This is CSUSM's first win in program history over Western Washington in three meetings.
• This is the first time the two teams have met on a neutral court.

 
UP NEXT
CSUSM will close out Azusa Pacific's Cougar Shootout on Saturday, Nov. 18 against Seattle Pacific at 4 p.m.