Angelique Bailey and the Otters host Cal Poly Pomona in a CCAA Tournament quarterfinal game Tuesday (Mar. 5) in The Kelp Bed.
SEASIDE, Calif. -- The second season begins Tuesday (Mar. 5) for the Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team when it hosts Cal Poly Pomona in a CCAA Tournament quarterfinal game at 7 p.m.
CSUMB (18-7 overall) is the No. 3 seed and Cal Poly (14-12) is the No. 6 seed. The winner will advance to the CCAA Tournament Final Four beginning Friday (Mar. 8) at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario. The Otters are the defending tournament champions.
The winner of the CCAA Tournament earns the CCAA's autmatic bid to the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament. The 64-team field will be announced Sunday, Mar. 10.
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS (14–12, 12–10 CCAA): Cal Poly Pomona won three of its final four games to qualify as the No. 6 seed in the CCAA Tournament. The Broncos have a rich tournament history, which includes 10 CCAA Tournament titles and an overall record of 23–4 in CCAA Tournament play. They own the most CCAA Tournament victories in conference history. Junior forward J.J. Judge is Pomona's top scorer at 14.5 points per game. Senior forward Ashley Boggs adds 11.5 ppg and a team–best 7.5 rebounds per game.
WHEN LAST WE MET: Pomona jumped out to a 14–2 lead by the first media timeout, but the Otters regained their footing and fought back to take a 64–54 decision in Kellogg Gym on Feb. 16. Stefanie Corgel (Manhattan Beach/UCSB) knocked down four three–pointers in the second half as part of her game–high 15 points. Senior forward Brittani Jefferson (Palmdale/Quartz Hill HS) added a 13–point, 11–rebound double–double. Cyndie Jones was the only Bronco to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points.
WHEN LAST WE MET, POSTSEASON EDITION: The Otters and Broncos met once before in the postseason, with Cal Poly taking a 59–53 decision in the 2011 CCAA Championship game played at Pioneer Gym in Hayward. The game was tight throughout until Cal Poly held the Otters scoreless over the final 3:26 to pull away at the end.
SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES: Three Otters and two Broncos remain on the active rosters from the 2011 CCAA Championship game. The players and their stats from that game are:
Cal State Monterey Bay
Jessica Fontenette (8 pts, 2 reb, 4 asst, 1 steal)
Holly Holcomb (7 pts, 8 reb, 2 asst, 3 steals)
Britnee Lewis (0 pts, 0 reb, 2 minutes)
Cal Poly Pomona
Jennifer Bryant (0 pts, 0 reb, 8 minutes)
J.J. Judge (0 pts, 1 reb, 11 minutes)
THE REST OF THE CCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD: Here's the rest of the CCAA Tournament field. Note all quarterfinal games are being played Tuesday on the campus of the higher seed:
No. 1 Chico State (22–4, 18–4) vs. No. 8 San Francisco State (12–14, 9–13)
No. 2 UC San Diego (19–10, 17–5) vs. No. 7 Cal State San Bernardino (13–13, 11–11)
No. 4 Cal State L.A. (19–10, 14–8) vs. No. 5 Cal State East Bay (16–10, 14–8)
OTTERS IN THE CCAA TOURNAMENT: This marks CSUMB's fourth consecutive appearance in the CCAA Tournament. The Otters own an all–time record of 5–2 in tournament action, reaching the championship game in 2011 before winning the title in 2012.
A PERFECT 10…POINT 9: Heading into the postseason, Brittani Jefferson maintains her season scoring average of 10.9 points per game. She is looking to become the first Otter since Veronica Williams to average double figures in scoring for a season. Williams averaged 12.1 ppg in 2010.
HOT AND COLD: Exactly 70 percent of CSUMB's 130 three–point field goals this season have come in 11 hot–shooting games when the Otters went a combined 91–for–217 from beyond the arc (41.9 pct.). In CSUMB's other 14 games this season, it has shot just 39–for–221 (17.6 pct.) from long range.
SIX IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: Six seems to be the magic number for three–point field goals in the Renee Jimenez era of Otter basketball. Friday night's overtime loss to Chico State snapped the Otters 13–game winning streak when draining at least six long balls. Even more impressive, CSUMB is 25–4 (a winning percentage of 86.2) in its last 29 contests when it made at least six three–pointers. All–time under Jimenez, CSUMB is 60–14 (81.1 pct.) when making at least six treys in a game.
THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS: The Otter defense continues to be as consistent as — for lack of a better comparison — the Otter defense. Entering Tuesday's game vs. Cal Poly, the Otters have held 11 opponents (of 25 this season) under 50 points. Including Chico State last week, only three opponents have reached the 60–point plateau in regulation against CSUMB. The other two were 79–63 vs. Academy of Art on Dec. 5 and 78–66 at Dominguez Hills on Jan. 4.
PICK UP THE PACE: The Otters registered more than 70 points in consecutive games last week for the first time this season. The last time the Otters broke 70 in consecutive games was the 2012 CCAA Tournament Final Four when they beat Chico State 71–65 and Cal State L.A. 71–69. The last time the Otters scored 70 or more points in three consecutive games came Dec. 10–19, 2011 in wins over Simpson University (86–55), Cal State L.A. (71–60) and Cal State Dominguez Hills (71–51).
70 IS THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING: With apologies to Douglas Adams, the answer to everything isn't 42, it's 70. The Otter saw their streak of 28 consecutive wins when scoring at least 70 points snapped Friday night in overtime vs. Chico State. In fact, CSUMB is 29–2 all–time when scoring 70 or more points under Renee Jimenez. Prior to last week, the Otters hadn't scored 70 in defeat since a 85–79 loss to Cal State Stanislaus on Dec. 6, 2008.
WHY PLAY 40 MINUTES? Second halves have become all but irrelevant when the Otters lead at intermission under Renee Jimenez. CSUMB has won 68 of its last 72 regular season games in which it has led at halftime. In fact, under Jimenez, the Otters have a 74–5 all–time regular season record when leading at intermission. Humboldt State broke the Otters' 52–game win streak in such situations by overcoming a 32–31 on deficit Feb. 4, 2012 to win 65–51. CSUMB was 18–1 when leading at halftime last season.
ON THE REBOUND: The Otters enter Tuesday's game averaging 41.0 rebounds per game. That mark would be a school record for rebounding average in a season, eclipsing the 38.4 rebounds per game pulled down by the 2006–07 Otters. In terms of total rebounds, CSUMB enters the week with 1,024 boards, good for No. 4 on that list. The school record for total rebounds is 1,173 set over 31 games by the 2010–11 Otters.
A THIEF IN THE NIGHT: Jessica Fontenette (Chino Hills/Bishop Amat) finally grabbed the brass ring, taking the career steals record from Dana Andrews (2006–09) in the Jan. 12 win over Humboldt State. She added seven steals to her larder last week and now has 174 steals, eclipsing Andrews' mark by 40. Junior forward Holly Holcomb currently ranks No. 6 on the list with 96.
MUNSCH–ING ON THE URBAN KNIGHTS: Senior forward Gabby Munsch (Lodi/Cal State San Marcos) hit 10–of–14 from the field to match her career high with 21 points in CSUMB's Dec. 5 win over Academy of Art. It was CSUMB's first 20–point game of the season and its first since Stefanie Corgel (Manhattan Beach/UCSB) dropped 20 on Cal State L.A. on Dec. 18, 2011. It's still the only 20–point game by an Otter this season.
BACK–TO–BACK DOUBLE–DOUBLES: Junior forward Ashley Morgan (Rohnert Park/Santa Rosa CC) and Brittani Jefferson each posted double–doubles the weekend of Jan. 4–5, with Morgan going for 10 points and 10 rebounds at Dominguez Hills and Jefferson getting 10 and 13 at CSULA. It marks just the third time in four seasons two different Otters have posted consecutive double–doubles. The last two to do it were Jefferson (14 & 10 at SFSU on Jan. 5, 2012) and Shonetta Crain–Williams (14 & 12 at Cal Poly Pomona on Jan. 7, 2012).
In case you're wondering, the last time two Otters posted double–doubles in the same game came on Feb. 18, 2011 when Holly Holcomb had 10 & 10 and Julie Heurung had 20 & 10 in a 62–45 win over Sonoma State on Feb. 18, 2011.
ANOTHER 20–WIN SEASON, ANOTHER TITLE: The Otters secured a second consecutive 20–win season and a second consecutive championship banner with last season's run through the CCAA Tournament. They are the first two of each in CSUMB women's basketball history.
THAT GIRL GIVES A HAND: Jessica Fontenette matched her personal best with seven assists in the win over Academy of Art. That mark ties for the No. 8 spot in the CSUMB record book. Fontenette now has 200 career assists good for No. 2 on that list. Alma Lopez set the CSUMB standard with 206 assists from 2007–08.
THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS: Otter success in the Renee Jimenez era begins with defense. The 2011–12 Otters allowed just 59.6 points per game, marking the third consecutive season they allowed fewer than 60.0 points per game. The Otters entered the week allowing 52.6 ppg, good for No. 7 in the nation among NCAA Division II schools.
BALANCING ACT: While defense remains the forté, the Otter offense found success by doing an insane balancing act once again in 2011–12. CSUMB's top six scorers averaged between 9.8 and 7.6 points per game, marking the second consecutive season that an Otter championship team did not feature a player who averaged in double figures.
OTTERS WEARING RED? While not traditionally a CSUMB color, red will be the color for four Otters who will redshirt the 2012–13 season: One of the redshirts will be a returning player: Sophomore forward Mykayla Harris. They will be joined on the redshirt list by junior wing Kayla Patton and freshman guards Victoria Dorn and Tyvette White.
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