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Women’s Basketball Team Squares Off
with Chico State Tonight in Its First Ever NCAA Regional Final
March 12, 2007
The UCSD Women’s Basketball shoots for the Elite Eight tonight when it hosts CCAA rival Chico State in the championship tilt of the NCAA Division II West Regional Championship. The game begins at 7 p.m. at RIMAC Arena.
The two teams split their regular season series, the Wildcats surprising UCSD, 79-69, at RIMAC in December, the Tritons returning the favor with an 80-63 pasting on national TV, Feb. 3, in Chico. UCSD, in its first-ever regional final and sporting a school record for wins in a season, is 25-4 while Chico State is 24-4.
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| Hillary Hansen |
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Senior Kacie Kostlan handed out a school record ¾ tying 14 assists Friday night as UCSD played a near perfect game in routing first round opponent Western Washington, 78-45. Senior guard Leora Juster led all scorers with 23 points and sophomore Michelle Osier had her seventh double double of the year (15 points/10 rebounds) as the Tritons handed the Vikings their worst loss in more than 10 years.
In Saturday’s regional semi-finals, the Tritons used suffocating defense to trounce fourth-seeded Alaska-Anchorage, 75-60, in a rough-and-tumble contest that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. UCSD rushed out to an 20-5 lead, upping it to 31 points late in the second half. UAA made just five of its first 25 shots and struggled at 29% from the field on the night while racking up 21 turnovers. Juster netted just 11 in this contest, but Hansen (18 pts./12 rebounds/4 assists) and Osier (13 pts./8 rebounds) picked up the slack.
Earlier in the week, Juster was named CCAA Player of the Year and Daktronics Division II West Region Player of the Year for the second straight time. She was joined on the All-CCAA first team by teammates Hansen and Osier. Jones was honored as the conference’s Coach of the Year. |
