January 20, 2006
BOX SCORE
BSEASIDE, Calif. – Riding an 11–game win streak history almost guaranteed would be 12, the Cal State Bakersfield women’s basketball team found itself in an unexpected battle at Cal State Monterey Bay where it outlasted the Otters 79–68 at the Kelp Bed Friday night.
The Roadrunners improved to 14–1 overall and 7–1 in conference play, maintaining their one–half game lead in the CCAA race. Monterey Bay fell to 2–12 and 1–6.
In the four previous meetings between the two schools, Bakersfield had won each by an average margin of better than 50 points per game. Although its won–loss record doesn’t reflect it, Monterey Bay may be the most improved to in the conference this season. The Otters made that fact painfully clear Friday night.
Despite a sloppy beginning that featured an uncharacteristic 14 first–half turnovers, the Roadrunners seemed poised to run away with the game several times in the first half. They opened leads of five, six and seven points on multiple occasions, only to watch Monterey Bay scratch its way back each time.
Before Bakersfield knew what hit it, the Otters had forged a five–point, 47–42 lead at the half. To put that in perspective, only once in the previous four meetings with Bakersfield did the Otters score more than 42 points in the entire game.
Monterey extended its lead to seven points twice in the second half, the last time at 51–44 two minutes into the half. At that point, the Roadrunners finally came to life.
A pair of Jessie Loring (Saugus/College of the Canyons) free throws sparked a 12–0 run that gave Bakersfield the lead for good, 56–51. Monterey Bay never held the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead again.
Although Bakersfield held the lead for the final 16:17 of regulation, the Otters didn’t go quietly. It took nearly six minutes for the Roadrunners to get the lead to double digits at 69–58. They held Monterey at arm’s length for the duration.
Loring led all scorers with 17 points for Bakersfield Katie McElree (Apple Valley HS) played through a bout of food poisoning to add 15 points.
Bakersfield returns home to host Cal State Stanislaus Friday night.
CS BAKERSFIELD (14–1, 7–1 CCAA) – Kelley Tarver 3-4 1-3 7; Katie McElree 4-9 6-6 15; Krista Arase 2-3 2-2 7; Rhonda Johnson 5-11 0-0 10; Jessie Loring 4-11 9-10 17; .Katherine Smith 0-2 0-0 0; Christine Kepenekian 2-5 0-0 4; Rhondi Naff 1-5 2-2 4; Cheyenne Agin 2-5 2-2 4; Gillian Lillich 1-3 6-6 9 TOTALS: 24-58 28-31 79.
CS MONTEREY BAY (2–12, 1–6 CCAA) – Krista Herr 2-7 0-0 4; Denisha Profit 3-4 0-0 6; Natalie Franka 1-4 0-0 2; Andrea Hanshew 3-3 1-1 7; Karly Castro 3-6 0-0 8; Megan Okui 0-1 4-5 4; Britnea Moore 4-6 4-6 12; Jennifer Lopez 4-15 3-5 11; Jessica Harris 1-4 0-2 2; Kelly Mezger 0-1 0-1 0; Dana Andrews 2-3 5-6 10; Halley Mosley 1-3 0-0 2. TOTALS: 24-57 17-26 68.
HALFTIME: MB 47–42. 3-PT: CSUB 3-6 (Arase 1-1, Lillich 1-1, McElree 1-2, Kepenekian 0-2); MB 3-5 (Castro 2-3, Andrews 1-1, Okui 0-1). REBOUNDS: CSUB 31 (Johnson 8); MB 44 (Herr 11). ASSISTS: CSUB 15 (Arase 4); MB 16 (Hanshew 6). TURNOVERS: CSUB 23, MB 35. FOULED OUT: None. OFFICIALS: Baptista, Arthur, Fuji. ATTN: 127.
California State University, Bakersfield Athletic Department
9001 Stockdale Highway, Bakersfield, CA 93311-1022
Phone: (661) 654-3071 • FAX: (661) 654-2376
