Toro Women Tame Broncos in Second Half, Win 73-51
Blue leads three Toros in double figures with 26 points
January 25, 2006

Complete Box Score

Carson, CA – The Cal State Dominguez Hills women's basketball team tightened up their second half defense to turn a two-point advantage at the break into a 73-51 romp. Tameka Blue (Watsonville, CA/Santa Cruz HS) led the charge with 26 points, seven assists, and five steals while going 8-8 from the free throw line. With the win, the Toros, ranked 9th in the latest west region poll, improve to 9-6, 4-5 CCAA, while Cal Poly Pomona falls to 6-10, 3-5 CCAA.

The Broncos and the Toros would kick the game off matching each other point for point, with neither team able to go ahead by more than three points over the first five minutes of play. CSUDH would use a 13-3 run over a four and a half minute span, capped off by a three-point play by freshman Ennisha Kyles (Los Angeles, CA/Mast HS), to put some space between the two teams, going up 19-9 with 10:38 remaining.

CPP would be dazed for only a few minutes by the Toros' run before they turned the tide and started a run of their own. DeJa Dlevins hit a three with nine minutes left to start a 12-2 run, and she would contribute four more points during the run to bring the Broncos back to tie the game at 23-23 with five and a half minutes left.

The Toros would answer and keep the Broncos from gaining the lead over the next few minutes, but CPP would use a free throw by Khiara Ferguson with 1:44 left to capture their first lead of the game at 29-28.

Jessica Liang (Alhambra, CA/Mark Keppel HS) would show why she is one of the top three-point specialists in the CCAA, knocking down a three-point shot from a Blue assist, to put the Toros back in the lead at 31-29, where the score remained as the half came to an end.

The achilles heel of the Toros this season has been their lack of offense in the second half, and they came out of the locker ready to prove that those days are gone. CSUDH would build an eight-point lead over the first three minutes of play, thanks in part to a pair of threes by Blue and Liang. Momentum would continue to swing the Toros way, as CSUDH pushed its lead to 22 at 57-35 at the 7:54 mark.

The Broncos would be held scoreless for a little over six minutes during the Toros 17-3 run. From that point, the Toros lead would only dip below 20 points twice as the CSUDH closed out the Broncos in a 73-51 blowout.

Shanika Perkins would lead CPP with 14 points, while Ally Smith and Blevins chipped in eight points apiece.

The Broncos would dominate the boards, in holding a 42 to 28 rebounding advantage over the Toros, but CPP would commit 11 more turnovers to give the Toros a sizeable 29-14 edge in points off turnover..

Liang and Brittney Blankenship (Palmdale, CA/Palmdale HS) would also be in double figures, contributing 13 and 11 points, respectively. Alana Bailey (Altadena, CA/John Muir HS) just missed out on a double-double with seven points and eight rebounds.

With her 26-point performance, Blue moves into third place all-time in CSUDH career scoring, and now stands only 10 points behind Tracee Lewis for second place.

The Toros continue their conference home stand Friday as they take on the Otters of Cal State Monterey Bay. Tip off scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in the Torodome.