La Jolla, Calif.--- The No. 7 UC San Diego Tritons used a 9-0 run midway through the second half to key their 74-61 conference win over the visiting SF State Gators (7-10, 3-6 CCAA) this evening at UC San Diego's RIMAC Arena. The Tritons (14-0, 9-0 CCAA) shot 63% from the field in the second half and were led by Chelsea Carlisle's game high 17 points.
“We played 20 minutes of excellent basketball and our second half,” said SF State Head Coach Joaquin Wallace. “We had mental breakdowns defensively, which resulted in fouls,” added Wallce. “Against a team such as No. 7 UC San Diego, we have to be defensively. However, I am encouraged by our team effort.”
The Gators jumped out to a 14-6 lead to open the game in the first four minutes including eight points by Andrea Ohlssen (Pacifica, Cal Poly Pomona). UC San Diego took its first lead of the half as the Tritons outscored their visitors 13-4 in the next five minutes to take a 19-18 lead on a three by Carlisle. There were five ties in the last 10 minutes of the half including a 32-32 deadlock going into the locker room.
UC San Diego outscored the Gators 9-2 to open up the second half to take a 41-36 lead. SF State came back and outscored the Tritons 4-0 to cut the hosts' lead to just one (41-40), but UC San Diego went on a 13-2 run to take a 54-42 lead with 11:11 to go in the game.
Juliet Masei's (Mojave, CA, Dickinson State) free throw capped a 6-2 Gator run to cut the Triton lead to 56-48 with 8:46 left in regulation. UC San Diego outscored the visitors 16-9 in the next five minutes to take its largest lead of the game at 72-57 as the Tritons held on for a 74-61 victory.
Besides Carlisle's 17 points, the Tritons had two other players score double figures as Erin Noonan finished with 11, while Annette Ilg added 10. UC San Diego also had 12 steals and held the Gators to 40% shooting from the field.
Both Andrea Ohlssen and Donisha Tate (Oakland, California, Las Posita College) led the Gators each with 11 points. SF State out-rebounded the Tritons 38-32, with Tate and Dominique Hunter (San Francisco, California, Gateway) pulling down 10 boards apiece. The Gators also were 6-of-13 from three-point land, including Ohlssen's 3-for-5 clip.
The Gators will return home Friday, Jan. 22, when they host the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos in a 5:30pm scheduled conference contest at SF State's Main Gymnasium.
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