BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – It was a long road trip to open the season, but the wait was worth it for the home crowd as Cal State Bakersfield ran away from Cal State Dominguez Hills early for an easy 69-54 win at Rabobank Arena on Friday.
This one was over early with the Roadrunners jumping out to a quick 14-4 lead in less than seven minutes of action and the home team never looked back. The Toros pulled to within five points with just under three minutes to go in the first half, but they could not come any closer.
Bakersfield was led by Jessi Loring (Saugus/College of the Canyons) who just missed a double-double with a 20-point, nine-rebound night. Rhonda Johnson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Santa Monica JC) was one of two impact players off the bench for Bakersfield with 16 points and nine rebounds in just 22 minutes, while Katherine Smith (Marin/Ohlone College) had 10 points and four assists.
Cal State Dominguez Hills had a balanced scoring night with their constant substitution method with Ennisha Kyles leading the was 12 points and Brittney Blankenship adding 10. Alana Bailey and Michelle Kribell shared team-high honors with six rebounds.
Turnovers played a huge role in this one. Not only did the Toros turn the ball over 21 times in the game as compared to just 10 assists, but they also had 12 turnovers in the first half which resulted in 10 Roadrunner points. Combine that with Dominguez's 2-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line in the first half, and it comes as little surprise that Bakersfield led at the half by 11 at 34-23.
But the Roadrunners turned it on in the second half and extended their 11-point halftime lead to 16 by the midway point in the second half and were up by 20 with 7:40 remaining in the game when a Loring jumper gave Bakersfield a 58-38 lead.
The Roadrunners will look to continue their strong first homestand of the season when they host UC San Diego on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in the first half of a women's/men's doubleheader.
CS DOMINGUEZ HILLS (6–4, 3–3 CCAA): Blankenship 4-10 2-3 10; Bailey 3-6 0-0 6; Kyles 5-5 2-2 12; Baldwin 2-6 2-7 6; Liang 1-5 0-0 3; Iglehart 3-4 2-2 9; Bennett 0-2 0-0 0; Johnson 0-3 0-1 0; Gantt 1-3 0-0 2; Browne 0-3 0-0 0; Hale 1-1 0-0 2; Loftin 0-1 0-0 0; Kribell 2-7 0-0 4. TOTALS: 22-56 8-15 54.
CS BAKERSFIELD (8–5, 5–1 CCAA): Naff 3-8 0-0 7; Siaosi 2-5 1-2 5; Loring 6-10 8-10 20; Tarver 2-8 2-5 6; Arase 1-6 0-1 3; Belt 1-2 0-0 2; Smith 2-3 4-6 10; Kepenekian 0-1 0-0 0; Johnson 0-1 0-0 0; Blair 0-0 0-0 0; Johnson 7-12 2-2 16; Barnes 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 24-56 17-26 69.
HALFTIME: CSUB 34-23. 3-PT. FG: CSDH 2-7 (Iglehart 1-2, Liang 1-4, Blankenship 0-1); CSUB 4-16 (Smith 2-3, Naff 1-5, Arase 1-5, Tarver 0-3). REBOUNDS: CSDH 40 (Bailey, Kribell 6); CSUB 37 (Loring, Johnson 9). ASSISTS: CSDH 10 (Blankenship, Bailey, Baldwin 2); CSUB 17 (Arase, Smith 4). TURNOVERS: CSDH 21, CSUB 13. BLOCKS: CSDH 3 (Gantt 2); CSUB 5 (Loring 3). STEALS: CSDH 8 (Blankenship, Baldwin, Liang 2); CSUB 12 (Naff, Tarver, Arase, Smith, Johnson 2). TECHNICALS: None. FOULED OUT: None. OFFICIALS: Eric Kutas, Victor Dunomes, Kerry Davis. ATT: 3,113.
