SAN MARCOS, Calif. –  The RV Cal State San Marcos women's basketball team (5-2, 2-0 CCAA) will conclude its pre-holiday contests this week, hosting Cal Poly Humboldt (4-2, 2-0 CCAA) on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and Chico State (4-3, 1-1 CCAA) on Saturday at 1 p.m. 

The CSUSM Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will be hosting a holiday toy drive this week. Fans who bring a new, unwrapped toy to the Cougars' men's and women's basketball doubleheaders on December 7th and 9th will receive free entry. All gifts collected will be donated to the Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos.

LAST WEEK

• The Cougars went 2-0 to open conference play last week. 
• CSUSM took down CCAA preseason-favorite Cal State LA on Thursday, 73-43. 
• Nine Cougars scored in the game against the Golden Eagles with Jordan Vasquez leading the charge with 15 points. 
• The Cougars followed that win up with a 67-62 victory over defending CCAA Regular-Season Champion Cal State Dominguez Hills.
• Mina Tameilau led all scorers in the CSUDH game with 21 points. 

CCAA PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• For her performances against Cal State LA and Cal State Dominguez Hills, Jordan Vasquez earned her fourth career CCAA Player of the Week nod on Tuesday. 
• Vasquez tallied two double-doubles over the weekend, raising her season total to five and career total to 31. 
• Against CCAA preseason-favorite Cal State LA on Thursday, Vasquez scored 15 points (6-of-9) with 11 rebounds with two assists and a blocked shot. 
• Versus the defending conference regular-season champs Cal State Dominguez Hills, she posted 18 points (8-of-15) with 15 boards.

COUGAR FACTS

• The Cougars are the CCAA leader with 4.2 blocks per game, ranking 37th in NCAA Division II, with Malia Mastora ranking second in the conference with 12.  
• CSUSM is leading the CCAA in scoring defense while ranking 46th in the nation, holding opponents to 57.7 points per game. 
• The Cougars rank second in the CCAA with a 44.4 field-goal percentage, behind conference-leader Chico State's 44.7. 
• CSUSM's defense is also holding opponents to a 37.1 field-goal percentage, ranking third in the CCAA. 
• The Cougars are averaging just 18.4 fouls per game, the fifth lowest in the CCAA. 
• Mina Tameilau ranks second in the CCAA in free throw percentage at 84.0% (21-of-25). 
• Jordan Vasquez ranks second in Division II in double-doubles with five in the first seven games. 
• Vasquez's 10.3 rebounds per game rank third in the CCAA while ranking second with 74 total rebounds.
• With a 57.5 field-goal percentage, Vasquez is the CCAA leader and ranks 33rd in the nation.  
• Vasquez moved into second in the CSUSM career record books with 497 rebounds while at CSUSM. The Cougar leader in Heather Thompson (2011-14) who tallied 921 in her four years at CSUSM.

GAME 8 | CAL POLY HUMBOLDT
Date	Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023
Time	5:30 p.m.
Location	San Marcos, Calif.
Venue	The Sports Center
Records	CSUSM (5-2, 2-0 CCAA) HUM (4-2, 2-0 CCAA)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video ($)	CCAA Network
Tickets	HomeTown Ticketing

THURSDAY VS. HUMBOLDT

• Humboldt opened CCAA action with a pair of wins over Cal Poly Pomona (61-58) and Cal State San Bernardino (49-48). 
• CSUSM, Humboldt and Stanislaus State were the only teams that went 2-0 in the first weekend of conference play. 
• The Jacks' two losses came at the hands of Northwest Nazarene (83-71) and Azusa Pacific (87-64). 
• Humboldt is second in the CCAA in free throw percentage (77.5%) at 62-of-80. 
• The Jacks rank second in 3-point attempts per game (21.0) in the CCAA, but seventh in 3-point field-goal percentage (31.7%) and fourth in 3-pointers per game (6.7). 
• Humboldt ranks second-to-last in the conference in rebounds per game (33.83) and defensive rebounds per game (22.2). 
• Emila Long is the NCAA Division II leader with 4.6 steals per game while ranking second in the conference in assists per game (4.6). 
• With a five-game win streak, CSUSM leads the all-time series over Humboldt at 9-5. 
• The Cougars are 4-1 when playing in The Sports Center.
• In the last meeting between the two teams, CSUSM recorded a 69-59 win in The Sports Center on Feb. 23. The Cougars pulled off a 70-68 victory in Arcata one month earlier. 
• The Jacks were picked to finish 10th in the 2023-24 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll. 

 

GAME 9 | CHICO STATE
Date	Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023
Time	1 p.m.
Location	San Marcos, Calif.
Venue	The Sports Center
Records	CSUSM (5-2, 2-0 CCAA) Chico (4-3, 1-1 CCAA)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video ($)	CCAA Network
Tickets	HomeTown Ticketing

SATURDAY VS. CHICO

• Before taking on the Cougars, Chico State will travel to Rohnert Park to take on Sonoma State on Thursday.
• Playing at home, the Wildcats began CCAA play with an 82-73 victory over Cal State San Bernardino. 
• Chico State dropped an 89-84 decision last Saturday to Cal Poly Pomona. 
• The Wildcats have followed every loss this season with two wins, repeating this pattern twice. 
• Chico State has faced only one similar opponent with CSUSM, falling to Saint Martin's 73-72 on Nov. 18 while the Cougars took down the Saints 80-54 six days later. 
• The Wildcats are leading the CCAA in seven categories – assist/turnover ratio (1.14), field-goal percentage (44.7), fouls per game (16.0), free throws made per game (15.71), defensive rebounds (15.71), scoring offense (78.1), 3-point field-goal percentage defense (24.8%) and fewest turnovers per game (13.9). 
• Zhane Duckett is the CCAA leader in assists per game (6.0), total steals (42) and made free throws (37). 
• CSUSM is 10-4 in the all-time series against the Wildcats and has won the last six meetings. 
• The Cougars are 4-1 when playing Chico State in The Sports Center. 
• In the last meeting against the Wildcats, CSUSM walked away with a 62-52 victory in The Sports Center. 
• Chico was voted to finish fourth in the 2023-24 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll. 

   
2023-24 OUTLOOK

• CSUSM will begin the new season ranked No. 22 in the WBCA Division II Top 25 Preseason Poll.
• The Cougars were voted to finish second in the 2023-24 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll. 
• Nine Cougars return from the 2022-23 team, including All-CCAA first-teamer Jordan Vasquez, second-teamer Mina Tameilau and honorable mention selection Charity Gallegos. 
• CSUSM is joined this year by four transfers, including Camille Johnson (Sonoma State), Rose Morse (UC Riverside), Ava Ranson (Montana State) and Truitt Reilly (Western Washington). 
• Closing out the Cougars' roster of 16 are freshmen Kaitlyn Beall (Dream City Christian School), Maddie Leiva (Santa Margarita Catholic HS) and Jade Ramirez (Pinewood HS).  

THE JIMENEZ FILE

• Head coach Renee Jimenez enters her ninth season in charge of the Cougar women's basketball team, a program that is only in its 13th season of existence.
• Last season, CSUSM made it deepest run as a NCAA Division II program in 2022-23 by making it all the way to the NCAA West Regional final. The Cougars won the program's first-ever CCAA Tournament Championship. 
• In 2021-22, Jimenez earned her third career and second consecutive CCAA Coach of the Year honor. She previously earned the award as the head coach at Cal State Monterey Bay during the 2010-11 season. With Jimenez at the helm, the Cougars clinched their second consecutive CCAA Regular-Season Championship in 2021-22. 
• After CSUSM's 2019-20 inaugural NCAA Division II West Regional appearance was cut short due to COVID-19, the Cougars were finally able to make their debut in the national tournament in 2021-22 as the No. 4 seed and followed it up with a No. 3 seed in 2022-23. 
• The Cougars have advanced to the CCAA Tournament three times, making it to the semifinals in 2018-19 followed by back-to-back finals appearance in 2019-20 and 2021-22.
• Jimenez has compiled a 248-146 (.629) in her 15 seasons coaching in the CCAA, spending two seasons at Cal State San Bernardino after a five-year stint at Cal State Monterey Bay.
• In her ninth season at CSUSM, Jimenez has tallied a record of 123-75 (.621).