Toros Women's Basketball Team Cannot Keep Up with UAA Seawolves
Consistent shooting by the Seawolves shuts down Toros
December 19, 2002

Complete Box Score

CARSON, Calif.- Both Cal State Dominguez Hills and University of Alaska Anchorage were looking to avenge losses in their last contests. The Toros suffered a second-half letdown in their 60-62 loss to Vanguard University on Saturday night, while the Seawolves suffered a setback to Christian Heritage College on Monday night. But Thursday night in the Torodome, it was UAA that picked up the win, 65-59.

It was obvious that the visiting Seawolves did not want to leave California without a win, while the Toros did not want to end the week with an 0-2 effort. The need to win was obvious, as each team started off hot with fast baskets and full court pressure on defense. But after the first couple of minutes, things would slow down. The Toros seemed to lack energy, as the Seawolves were beating out their hosts for loose balls and easy baskets.

Two Seawolves, Tanya Niziach and Mary Aschoff, scored in double figures in the first twenty, while the top scorer for the Toros was Octavia Askew who was kept to only six.

The Toros were leading the contest for the first ten minutes, but Aschoff would nail a jumper to put UAA ahead, and they would never relinquish that lead for the rest of the game. The Seawolves would enjoy their greatest lead of 14 with only three minutes remaining.

The Toros got some life out of Kendra Tease in the second half. The senior center scored the first three Toros baskets to open up the half. Tease would put in 13 of her team-high 15 in the second. Freshmen Tameka Blue and Teresa Cooper would also come alive to try to pull out a second half comeback, as they scored 12 and 13 points respectively. The two have scored in double-figures in all five games of the 2002-2003 season.

Cooper got nine of her points from deep as she connected on 3 of 5 from three-point land. In fact, the Toros seemed more polished all around as they came out of the locker room. In the first 20, they shot 32% from the field, but in the second half, they were able to connect on 16 of 36 attempts to improve their efficiency to 44%.

A big factor in tonight's contest was the boards. UAA out rebounded CSUDH 42-29, making for many second chance points and change of possessions for the Seawolves. Kamie Jo Massey and Mindy Mendenhall each pulled down double-figure rebounds on the night.

Mary Aschoff led all players on the night with 21 points, while Nizich finished the game going 5 of 7 from beyond the arc.

CSUDH falls to 2-3 overall while UAA improves to 4-3. The Seawolves went 1-1 on their southern California trip.

Next up for the Toros is Christina Heritage College on Saturday, December 28.