Askew’s Career-High 32 Points Lifts Toros Past Cal State Bakersfield, 88-82
Senior guard helps Toros win fifth-straight and maintain spot atop the CCAA Conference
February 12, 2005

Complete Box Score

Carson, CA – Cal State Dominguez Hills senior Octavia Askew (Van Nuys, CA/Birmingham HS) came to the forefront when the Toros needed her most, scoring a career-high 32 points on 11-of-16 shooting, including 22 in a sizzling second half, as CSUDH handed Cal State Bakersfield an 88-82 defeat, continuing a roll that has seen the Toros win five-consecutive games, and nine of their last 10.

With the victory, the Toros, alone in first place in the CCAA, improve to 14-6, 12-2 CCAA, while CSUB falls to 15-6, 9-5 CCAA.

The two teams played nip and tuck to begin the contest, with the visiting Roadrunners grabbing a slim 17-16 lead at the 9:58 mark. The Toros, however, immediately would find their offensive rhythm as a Tameka Blue (Watsonville, CA/Santa Cruz HS) lay-up: 58 seconds later would give the Toros an 18-17 lead, jump starting CSUDH on a 12-2 run that would give the Toros a 30-19 lead, their largest advantage of the first half.

After the ‘Runners would narrow the gap to 33-30 on a pair of Katie McElree free throws, an Askew jumper and Jessica Liang (Alhambra, CA/Mark Keppel HS) 3-pointer provided the Toros a 38-30 cushion heading into the locker room.

It was all Askew after the break as the Van Nuys native saved her best for last, spurred by her hot offensive hand. After hitting consecutive buckets to start the second half, another pair of consecutive baskets would keep the Toros’ lead at 13, and CSUB at arm’s length.

The ‘Runners’ McElree would lead CSUB back to 57-51 with 11:44 left in regulation, but an Askew 3-pointer just under four minutes later would increase CSUDH’s lead to 69-59, and another 3-pointer just two minutes later would give the Toros a 76-65 advantage, keeping the pressure on the visitors.

The Toros’ lead hovered around double-digits the remainder of regulation as Askew would drain 6-of-8 shots from the field and 7-of-10 from the free throw line for a whopping 22 second-half points, preventing the ‘Runners from getting closer than seven points until 0:03 left in the contest.

Askew connected on 69% of her shots from the floor as the Toros defeated the Roadrunners for only the second time in 10 meetings. The 5-8 guard also sizzled from behind the 3-point arc and at the foul line, sinking all three treys attempted and 7-of-10 free throws. Blue played a solid game at the point, nailing all five of her floor attempts and dishing seven assists, compared to only three turnovers.

For the ‘Runners, McElree hit 10-of-20 shots from the field, including 4-of-5 from behind the arc, and nailed 7-of-9 free throws en route to a team-high 31 points, while Gillian Lillich contributed 13 points in the CSUB loss.

In an evenly played contest, the Toros’ success at the charity stripe proved instrumental as CSUDH converted on 24-of-31 foul shots (77.4%), compared to CSUB’s 21-of-34 (61.8%) shooting from the charity stripe.

Cal State Dominguez Hills looks to stay atop the conference next week as it hosts Chico State on Friday, February 18, followed by Cal State Stanislaus the next night. Tip-off for both contests begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Torodome.