CSUDH Women's Basketball Weekly
February 21, 2007

This Release in PDF

This Week’s Opponents:

• @ Cal State San Bernardino (2/23)
• @ Cal Poly Pomona (2/24)

Recapping Last Week
Last week the Toros (12-10, 9-9 CCAA) split, running over a shorthanded Golden Eagles team, 69-41, and then falling to Cal State Bakersfield, 77-62.

Against CSULA, sharp-shooter Jessica Liang lit up the Golden Eagles for the second time this season, nailing seven three-point shots for a game-high 21 points.

The two teams would be close to begin the game, knotted at 9-9 after a trey by Liang with 15:47 on the clock.

With the Toros up two with 12:50 remaining, CSUDH would use a 17-2 run, capped by a Unique Bennett trey, over the next seven minutes to break the game wide open and go up 30-13 with 5:29 left in the first half, taking a 34-17 lead into the locker room.

A lay-up by Alan Bailey would push the Toro lead to 20 with 12:48 on the clock after intermission, and the Toros would cruise the rest of the way.

In addition to Liang’s 21 points, Michelle Kribell chipped in nine points and Bailey added eight points and seven rebounds. Overall nine different Toros would score as the CSUDH defense forced 21 Golden Eagle turnovers.

The next night against the Roadrunners, CSUB would be off and running as the ball was tossed for the tip-off, grabbing the lead and holding it until a jumper by Brigayle Iglehart at the 12:07 mark would give CSUDH its first lead of the game at 17-16.

After the ‘Runners recaptured the lead two minutes later, the two teams would battle back and forth until the Toros grabbed their first lead in almost six minutes on a bucket by Brittney Blankenship.

CSUB would not let the Toros expand their lead, however, using a pair of free throws to tie the game at 27-27 with just under six minutes left on the clock.

The Two teams would remain close over the final six minutes, with the ‘Runners grabbing a slim 40-37 lead heading into intermission.

After the break the ‘Runners would push their lead to double digits at 49-39 on a trey by Krista Arase with 14:33 on the clock.

Both teams would trade baskets over the next four minutes as CSUB held a 56-45 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game.

CSUDH would still be down 10 at 62-52 with 6:50 on the clock when a baseline jumper two minutes later by Aujaneé Baldwin cut the deficit to just four at 62-58, but CSUB would respond with an offensive rebound and put-back by Kepenekian to put CSUB up 64-58 with 4:47 left.

The ‘Runners would not let up for the remainder of the game and put away the Toros.

The trio of Iglehart, Blankenship, and Baldwin would all score in double-figures for the Toros with 17, 16, and 11 points, respectively.

News & Notes
Against the best in the west: With the season winding down and the Toros one spot away from making the NCAA D-II playoffs, here is a look at how the Toros have fared against the rest of the teams ranked in the West Region's Top 10.

West Region Poll (as of 2/21/07)

About This Week’s Foes

• Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes (16-7, 12-6 CCAA)
  About the Coyotes
  The Coyotes are coming off a road split last week, falling to Chico State 82-55 on Friday before beating Cal State Stanislaus 86-42 on Saturday.

  CSUSB was outgunned from the start against Chico as the Wildcats cruised to a 19-point lead at the half, 45-26.

  The Coyote defense could not slow down the Wildcat offense as they shot 64.3% from the field in the first half.

  After intermission things would not get much better for CSUSB, as CSUC shot 40.0% from the field and scored 37 points.

  Despite early foul trouble which eventually led to her fouling out of the game, Vanessa Wilt still led the Coyote offense with 13 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes on the floor.

  The next night Wilt would make sure that the Coyotes did not drop back-to-back games, going 14-for-15 from the field and scoring 30 points (24 of which came in the first half) and pulling down eight boards.

  As a team CSUSB would shoot 61.4% from the field and hold the Warrior offense to a 23.8 shooting percentage.

  The Coyotes would dominate the boards, pulling down 45 rebounds to the Warriors’ 28, block 10 shots and cause 19 CSUS turnovers.

  In addition to Wilt’s 30 points, Jaclyn Rainville chipped in 16 points and six rebounds in the win.

• About the Broncos
  Last weekend the Broncos split for the second consecutive week, in a 78-62 win over Cal State Stanislaus and a 73-53 loss to Chico State.

  Against CSUS, Cassey Brick would hit three-straight free throws to give the Broncos their first 10-point lead of the game at 29-19 with 7:18 to go in the first half. The Warriors sliced the lead to four points, but the Broncos finished the half strong and took a 38-29 halftime lead after a 3-pointer by Lauren Kitaguchi.

  A jumper by Ashlee Moody to open the second half gave the Broncos a 40-29 lead, after which the Warriors countered with a 3-pointer by Williams to make it 40-32. Cal Poly Pomona, though, scored the next five points, all by Kirksey, to open up a 45-32 advantage and the Broncos led by double-digits the rest of the way.

  Against the nationally-ranked Wildcats, CPP started well and led 15-13 after a layup by Moody with 8:23 remaining in the half. The Wildcats, though, scored the next 12 points to take a 25-15 lead. Three-pointers by Kitaguchi and Moody in the final 19 seconds brought the Broncos to within 30-25 at halftime.

  After intermission the Broncos cut the deficit to four points at 35-31, but the Wildcats went on an 11-0 run to take a 46-31 lead with 12:27 remaining.

  A 3-pointer by Brick got the Broncos to within eight points, 46-38, with 10 minutes to go, but the Wildcats went on another 11-0 run to build the lead back to 17 points, 55-38, with 6:49 remaining. The Broncos would be unable to threaten after that.