LA JOLLA–Cal State East Bay is struggling through its first season in the ultra-competitive CCAA.  The Pioneers’ appearance at RIMAC Arena on Tuesday night couldn’t have come at a better time for a hungry UCSD team.

Keeping their hopes alive for a berth in the conference championship tournament, the UC San Diego men’s basketball team rode the early hot hand of senior Tyler Acevedo to control the Cal State East Bay Pioneers from start to finish, winning 67-48 in front of a crowd of 379.

Acevedo hit four three-pointers in the first ten minutes of the game on route to a season-high 19 point performance.  His outburst helped UCSD (7-14, 6-12 CCAA) overcome a rare off night by senior star Jordan Lawley, who was held to 9 points on 3-10 shooting.

“Jordan can’t be perfect every night,” said Acevedo after the game, “I decided to come out and let it fly tonight.”

Watch postgame video interviews and read about the women’s win over East Bay after the jump:

The Tritons were flying defensively as a team, and with struggling East Bay (5-18, 2-16 CCAA) willing to cast up shots from any and all directions, the result was a 27% field goal percentage for the Pioneers.

“Holding any (team) at this level to under 30% shooting is a major accomplishment,” said UCSD head coach Chris Carlson, “and when you outrebound somebody by 18, that stands out.”

Watch a postgame interview with Carlson:

Christian Hatch continued his growth as a center with another double-double, tallying 12 points with 10 rebounds.  Dylan Bohanon added an active 10 points and five boards in 16 minutes off the bench.

With four games left in the regular season, UCSD is now tied for ninth place in the CCAA standings with Cal State Stanislaus, one game behind eighth place Sonoma State.  Only the top eight teams are invited to the conference tournament.

While East Bay had clearly packed it in mentally and were just running like a YMCA team, the Tritons are still fighting to salvage something from what looked like a lost season.

“This is my senior year and I don’t want to go out like that,” said Acevedo.

* * *

Annette Ilg was a force with 13 points and 11 rebounds (Jimmy Gekas/Sideline Studios)

Rebounding from a rare loss, the 7th ranked UCSD women’s team had no trouble with the outmached Cal State East Bay Pioneers, setting a season-high for points in a nonetheless sloppy 96-73 victory.

Chelsea Carlisle scored 22 points in 26 minutes and Tiffany Hunter added 21 points and 10 rebounds in just 21 minutes of work, leading the way for an easy victory.  The Tritons (21-2, 16-2 CCAA) overcame an unsightly 27 turnover performance by forcing 26 East Bay turnovers.

Annette Ilg also filled up the boxscore in her standard frenetic fashion.  The senior wing piled up 13 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 assists and 4 turnovers in 25 minutes.

“This is the best team I’ve been on since I’ve been (at UCSD),” said Ilg after the game.

It wasn’t the best team the Tritons will face, however.  East Bay, taking its lumps in its first year in the CCAA, fell to 1-22, 1-17 in conference.  To their credit, they continued to defend into the second half and forced a number of UCSD’s turnovers.

For Ilg’s team to reach new heights in her final season, they will need to prove they can win in tournament conditions.  This week’s three-game stretch should help test them at least physically in that regard.  UCSD travels on Friday to play San Francisco State before moving on to Sonoma State on Saturday night, capping a stretch of five games in nine days.

Will SDSU find its way into the NCAA Tournament this year?  College basketball Hall of Fame writer Frank Burlison says yes!  Burlison, longtime writer for the Long Beach Press Telegram and a man who is close with every coach and program in Southern California, joins 619 Sports to talk about each of our local teams.

Can the Mountain West get four teams into the NCAAs while the mighty Pac 10 gets just one?  Will Kawhi Leonard be a one-and-done player, off to the NBA (at 8:47)?  And what about Bill Grier (at 13:15) and Chris Carlson (at 17:15), two quality coaches who are struggling this year at USD and UCSD respectively?  Burlison covers it all with Craig in this college hoops podcast!

Download audio file (021610-frank-burlison.mp3)

Follow Frank Burlison on Twitter

Frank’s College Hoops Blog

Jordan Lawley led UCSD with a game-high 29 points (Jimmy Gekas-Sideline Studios)

LA JOLLA–Behind an inspired effort underneath from sophomore center Christian Hatch, the UCSD men’s basketball team snapped their five-game losing streak, holding off Cal State L.A. 83-77 Saturday night at RIMAC Arena.  The victory capped a double-header sweep for the Tritons, as the 8th ranked women’s team earlier dispatched the Golden Eagles 75-43, extending their record to 19-1 (14-1 CCAA).

Hatch blew past his previous career high, scoring 23 points with 11 rebounds.  Jordan Lawley added 29 and four Tritons scored in double figures in what head coach Chris Carlson called one of his team’s sharpest offensive efforts of the season.

“We played with great effort and energy early on and it really set the tone,” said Carlson.

UCSD (5-13, 4-11) led from start to finish, with Hatch scoring six early points down low as UCSD jumped ahead 14-4.  The Tritons led by 11 at the half and extended to an 18-point advantage early in the second half.  Cal State L.A. (12-9, 8-8) rallied behind Chris Fields’ 22 points, closing to within four late, but Lawley hit key free throws down the stretch to secure the Tritons victory.

Tyler Acevedo emerged from a long-range shooting slump to score 13 points (3-6 3-pointers) and Casey Ryan added a physical double-double, with 12 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

But it was Hatch, who has struggled all season to find consistency in the post, who made the biggest plays all game, muscling his way for 8 offensive rebounds.  Hatch spoke after the game about his career night:

The Tritons’ efficiency on offense included 19 assists on 28 baskets, with only 13 turnovers.  Head coach Chris Carlson was relieved to see a five-game losing streak go by the boards:

Earlier in the evening, the 8th ranked UCSD women’s team (19-1, 14-1 CCAA) took their time before dispatching the Golden Eagles 75-43.  Coming out ice-cold from long range, the Tritons saw themselves tied with Cal State L.A. (4-17, 2-13) 19-19 with about four minutes to play.  Then, UCSD scored the final ten points of the first half, and the first 18 points of the second half.

The 28-0 run eventually extended out to 41-5 midway through the second half, by which point head coach Charity Elliott was able to empty her deep and talented bench.  Twelve players saw at least ten minutes of action for UCSD, with 11 players scoring.

Watch Charity Elliott’s postgame comments:

Chelsea Carlisle couldn’t find her range until halftime, then came alive to score a game-high 19 points.  The sophomore point guard talked about UCSD’s 5th straight win:

The Tritons’ women work pink uniforms on Saturday night as part of “Think Pink” night, an effort to raise breast cancer awareness through the WBCA Pink Zone and the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.  UCSD’s basketball teams head out on the road now for games at Cal State Stanislaus and Chico State this weekend on Friday and Saturday.

LA JOLLA–The UCSD women’s and men’s basketball teams continued doggedly on their paths last night, heading in opposite directions.  The 8th ranked women’s team smoothly dispatched Cal State Dominguez Hills 83-57, running their win streak to four and their record to 18-1 (13-1 CCAA), while the men’s team (4-13, 3-11 CCAA) fell apart in the first half before rallying to make their fifth straight loss look more respectable, ultimately falling to CSUDH 68-58 at RIMAC Arena.

Charity Elliott’s women’s team is displaying a level of depth and athleticism that may be unrivaled on the West Coast in Division II.  Last night, the Tritons had all 13 players get at least eight minutes of playing time, with 12 scoring.  UCSD took control of the game midway through the first half with the second unit on the floor and all five starters resting.

“Our bench came in and really made a difference for us,” said Elliott of a unit that scored a season-high 42 points, “picked up where we started and kept it going.  We never had any letdown, which was a big step for this team.”

Daisy Feder (pictured) came off the bench for a career-high 19 points, including four three pointers.  Chelsea Carlisle, played just 23 minutes but still added 17 points and four rebounds.  Annette Ilg was her typical whirling dervish of defense, fast break outlets and layups, finishing with 14 points and three steals in just 18 minutes of work.

The UCSD backcourt of Carlisle and Ilg, with Feder, Osga and Laylani Martin in reserve, is easily the best in the CCAA, if not the country.  Martin (7 points) could start on any other team in the conference, and is the best Triton at breaking down a defender off the dribble.

Leading by 17 at the half, the Tritons starters picked up on the energy their bench provided, jumping out with a 22-7 run that put the game well out of reach.  UCSD is now 11-0 at RIMAC Arena and will look to extend their streak against Cal State L.A. at 5:30pm on Saturday, a game that will be simulcast live right here on 619Sports.Net.

***

Casey Ryan had a career-high 19 points in the UCSD loss (Jimmy Gekas/Sideline Studios)

The men’s team had shown progress over the past week but took a step backwards on Thursday night against a much taller and more athletic Dominguez Hills squad.  UCSD played with the Toros for the first 10 minutes, then saw the first half end on a 20-3 run.  During that stretch, the Tritons were regularly getting blocked inside by the Dominguez front line, which included 7-footer Amir Aguilar and 6′9″ Michael Cox.

Jordan Lawley contributed his usual 24 points and Casey Ryan added a career-high 19, but the rest of the Tritons were an ice-cold 5-for-30 from the field.  In addition, the team’s up-and-down free throw shooting returned, with UCSD clanking their way to a 13-for-25 performance from the stripe.

“We really didn’t execute anything at all in the first half,” said head coach Chris Carlson, “we really dug ourselves a hole and didn’t fight back from it in the first half.  We fought back in the second half but we were in too deep of a hole.”

Carlson described the effort as “disappointing” but vowed to focus on improvement for his mostly young team.  His problem is two-fold, and one part is not going to change.  First, his Tritons lack a reliable second option offensively, particularly from the outside.  This is unlikely to change this year but can evolve over time.

Next, his UCSD team plays in a conference against schools like CSUDH, which featured 9 junior-college transfers on their roster.  It’s a virtual guarantee that none of those nine (including five players 6′8″ or bigger) would have any chance of being enrolled in La Jolla.  The physical disadvantages are always going to be there.  UCSD needs to be a mentally strong team, but they showed the lack of resolve often found around a team with a sub-.250 winning percentage when things went south in the first half.

The Tritons will try to salvage one win out of their four-game homestand when they host Cal State L.A. at 7:30pm on Saturday night.  You can watch all the action live right here on 619Sports.Net, Craig Elsten will have the call of both games starting with the women at 5:30pm.

LA JOLLA–On a night when the likely CCAA player of the year was having trouble with her shot, the UCSD Tritons’ “junkyard dog” came through to clean up the mess.  Tiffany Hunter scored a career-high 23 points and added 13 rebounds as the 10th ranked Tritons (17-1, 11-1 CCAA) shut down Cal State San Bernadino 58-41 in front of 2,020 on Spirit Night at RIMAC Arena.  The attendance was a new school record for a womens’ basketball game.

“Tiffany was everywhere,” said UCSD head coach Charity Elliott after the game, “I don’t know how she gets some of those rebounds but she never quits.”

Hunter’s rebounding tenacity, which included 6 offensive boards and 10 points on put-backs, allowed UCSD to win on a night when leading scorer Chelsea Carlisle was held to 8 points on 4-of-13 shooting.

Read more and watch a video interview with Charity Elliott after the jump:

But with the support of a record crowd behind them, the Tritons did their best work on defense, particularly in the second half.  The Coyotes were held to 23% field goal shooting after halftime (6-for-26), and were out-rebounded 46-30 for the game.

Charity Smith turned in a strong performance off the bench for UCSD with seven points and three rebounds, freshman Emily Osga (Patrick Henry High) pulled down eight boards in 15 minutes off the bench, and Erin Noonan had six points and three assists to help the Tritons’ cause.

The UCSD women are one of the untold stories in San Diego sports so far this year, creeping under the radar despite a 17-1 record and a #10 national ranking in Division II.  Playing in front of by far their biggest crowd of the season, the Tritons were inspired to an even bigger effort.

“The energy in this place was awesome,” said Elliott, “and once we turned it up defensively they got into it even more.  It was a great night of basketball, and a lot of fun.”

Watch a postgame interview with Charity Elliott:

LA JOLLA–Spirit Night, UCSD’s annual attempt to infuse student spirit into the men’s and women’s basketball programs, brought out a combined crowd of almost 6,000 to RIMAC Arena on Saturday night.  The result was one of the more inspired performances of the year for the men’s team, battling CCAA-leading Cal State San Bernadino into the final minute.

Unfortunately for the Tritons, the outcome was a familiar one.  Despite a career-high 32 points from senior forward Jordan Lawley, UCSD (4-12, 3-9 CCAA) fell 76-67 to the Coyotes (13-4, 11-2) in front of 3,860 in attendance.

“A fantastic effort on our part against one of the best teams, not only in the CCAA, but in Division II basketball,” said head coach Chris Carlson after the game, “We got better tonight.  We didn’t get the result we were after obviously, but the effort was there.”

Indeed, the Tritons showed more moxie in the post than they have in many games this season.  Sophomore center Christian Hatch contributed a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Casey Ryan added twelve boards of his own.

The problem was on the perimeter, where CSUSB’s athleticism shined on defense.  The Coyotes forced 18 turnovers, 9 of them on steals, while committing just seven turnovers of their own.  The lost possessions for UCSD overshadowed a game in which the Tritons converted 19 of 20 free throws and out-rebounded the the bigger Coyotes 34-25.

Watch a postgame video interview with head coach Chris Carlson and check out a Spirit Night photo gallery after the jump:

“We try to keep it to 12 turnovers or less per night, and when you look at the stat sheet, (18 turnovers) stands out,” said Carlson, “I thought that really contributed to easy baskets for San Bernadino.”

With the huge crowd providing tremendous energy and enthusiasm throughout the game, UCSD came out with great intensity but spotty execution.  The Tritons committed 11 of their 18 turnovers in the first half and allowed a pair of 9-0 CSUSB runs, trailing 38-31 at halftime.

Photo Gallery from Spirit Night:

[View with PicLens]

The second half was the Jordan Lawley show.  Finding the range on his outside shot after hitting just 1-of-5 first half field goals, Lawley scored 23 of his team’s first 25 points in the second half.  Jordan finished 8-for-16 from the field, and a perfect 13-for-13 from the free-throw line.

But while the Tritons climbed within three points several times and even cut the lead to one with under two minutes to play, they could never close the gap entirely.  This was due to the clutch shooting of CSUSB point guard Corey Caston, who hit a pair of three pointers late in the second half, scoring 15 of his team-high 18 points after intermission.

In the critical play of the game, Coyotes’ shooting guard Lawrence Tyson was fouled with San Bernadino leading 68-67 and less than a minute to play.  Tyson made the first free throw but missed the second.  However, an exhausted Lawley failed to block out Aaron Hill, and the Coyotes’ guard grabbed a huge offensive rebound.  On the second chance possession, Caston drove to the hoop, scored and was fouled, converting the free throw to put CSUSB ahead by five.

“This is a tough life lesson for us,” said Carlson, “we’ve got to find a way to continue to improve and get better every day.”

Watch a 619 Sports postgame video interview with Coach Carlson:

It’s Spirit Week on the UCSD campus, a week of college vs. college competition that culminates with the biggest basketball crowds of the season.  Tonight, the Tritons men’s and women’s teams take on Cal Poly Pomona at 5:30 and 7:30pm at the RIMAC Arena in La Jolla.  On Saturday Cal State San Bernadino is in town for Spirit Night, with crowds of over 4,000 expected for the games.

Craig caught up with the stars of both UCSD hoops teams this week for one-on-one interviews.  Senior forward Jordan Lawley is leading the PCAA with a 20.2 scoring average, but is having to learn how to adjust to constant double teams and the lack of a true point guard:

Download audio file (012610-jordan-lawley.mp3)

The UCSD women are one of the class teams in West Coast Division II basketball, but the Tritons suffered their first loss of the season a week ago in Humboldt State.  Chelsea Carlisle, the sophomore point guard who leads the PCAA with 18.4 points per game, is the leading candidate for conference Player of the Year.  Chelsea joined us to talk about her improvement this season and how the Tritons are working to bring a championship to La Jolla:

Download audio file (012610-chelsea-carlisle.mp3)

I wore my Reggie Bush jersey out in public yesterday, with at least a little bit of pride.  The Saints are a natural pick for anyone in the 619 to root for, with Drew Brees at quarterback and one of San Diego’s own in the backfield.  Geaux Saints, Geaux Reggie!

By the end of the second quarter of the NFC Championship Game, there wasn’t much pride for Reggie Bush.  In one of the dumber plays since Vincent Jackson kicked the challenge flag, Bush decided to not fair catch a punt.  At the 15.  On the sideline.  With a defender one step away from him at a full run.  And with less than two minutes on the clock.

To make it even more laughable, Bush muffed the punt BEFORE he got lit up by the gunner.  Minnesota recovered the fumble.  The Vikings were given an ultimate gift: first and goal at the 10 in a 14-14 game to close out the half.

Then, Adrian Peterson decided to upstage Reggie Bush, starting his own fumblepalooza by snapping his arms together before Brett Favre handed him the ball, coughing it up for Scott Fujita to recover.  By game’s end, Reggie is up on the FOX desk being interviewed as one of the “stars of the Saints”.

The Vikings were going to give away that game yesterday, even if they had to belabor the point.  But for Reggie Bush, there should be nothing more than a quiet celebration.  Bush would have been one of New Orleans’ all-time sports goats if Peterson hadn’t returned the favor.

As another Bush would say of another famous New Orleans’ flop, Heck of a Job, Reggie!

The one common theme in Reggie Bush’s sports gaffes is pride.  Bush runs with pride and arrogance, always trying to make the biggest play possible, the most spectacular, jaw-dropping, unimaginable run.  It’s almost like he wants to recreate that famous run against Fresno State from his college days on every carry.  Every once in a while it happens.

Reggie Bush is equally capable of the spectacular or the stupid come Super Bowl time

But most of the NFL defenses are much less forgiving than Fresno State’s.  Bush usually takes a three yard hole and bounces it outside for a two yard loss.  He drops passes because he’s already twisting to head upfield.  And yes, he makes dumb decisions with the football (again, a college redo) and fumbles.

When you add it up, Bush is a firefly in the NFL: some brief glimpses of flash and light amounting to nothing.  Then again, he may just break a punt for a touchdown in the Super Bowl and spin spectacularly out of a tackle on a long gain, bouncing a play to the right that was designed to go left.

I know this, I’d be much more nervous than excited if I’m a Saints fan and Reggie Bush has the ball in the big game.  He’s as likely to lateral to nobody as he is to be the star.  And I’m not sure if I’m going to be sporting that Reggie Bush jersey when I watch the Super Bowl.

Some other loosely collated thoughts from the weekend:

• Malcolm Thomas showed me a lot on Saturday night, even in a game when he had just two points.  In the first half of SDSU’s battle with BYU, the Cougars were trapping and double-teaming every pass into the post.  When Billy White got double teamed, he would back out and rotate the ball around the perimeter, and BYU’s defense would hold.  When Thomas got the ball and the double came, he made quick passes over the top of the double team, usually to Brian Carlwell flashing down the lane.  Another time he spotted an open Tapley on the wing, who started a great ball rotation that led to an open shot on the other side of the court.  Thomas had five assists by halftime and forced BYU to switch to a zone.
• Speaking of which…D.J. Gay told me the final play call for the Aztecs, when they were trailing by three with 11 seconds to play, was a rub at the top of the arc, with Kelvin Davis coming off a double screen for a three on the right wing.  Davis got jumped by a double team, decided to penetrate, and lost the ball going up.  But really?  A play for Davis, who was 3-12 from the field in the game, 1-8 from three?  Senior leadership is one thing, but I don’t think running a play for the coldest guy on the court is a great maneuver.  KD shot his team out of the game on Saturday night, bombing away with some sideways threes during BYU’s 15-0 second-half run.
• One last thing from Saturday night: seriously, SDSU, next time you schedule a “Blackout” night at Viejas Arena, have the Aztecs come out in their black uniforms.  I know this is head-slappingly obvious but it seems to have escaped someone on the Mesa.
• UCSD women’s coach Charity Elliott, I told you.  On last week’s Triton Talk, I told the coach of the (at the time) 14-0 Tritons that her team was going to keep playing inconsistent basketball until somebody finally stepped up and slapped them.  UCSD was just two wins away from matching the school’s all-time winning streak in women’s basketball (16), but they had gone into a weeks-long rut of playing one good half, one bad half.  On Thursday night, in one of the toughest road venues in the PCAA, the Tritons lost 84-80 to Humboldt State, ending the undefeated run.  They came back to beat Sonoma State the next night, 68-52.  Coach Elliott’s Tritons are a bit undersized down low but have tenacious players who usually defend very well.  As long as they cut down on turnovers, they should be the dominant team on the West Coast in Division II.  But I thought it would take a loss for them to snap out of their see-saw funk, let’s see if it comes true this week when UCSD hosts Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday night and Cal State San Bernadino on Saturday night.  I’ll be calling Saturday’s games live on ucsdtritons.com.
• The UCSD men, meanwhile, are a mess.  They dropped two more on the Humboldt-Sonoma road trip, both by double digits.  Jordan Lawley (who will be my guest on Triton Talk tomorrow) lit it up for 59 points on the weekend, but coach Chris Carlson’s Tritons are lacking in experience at the point and production in the post.  Hopefully they’ll play inspired ball when I’m there on Saturday night, it will be Spirit Night, the one annually well-attended basketball game at UCSD.
• The SD Derby Dolls got their season started with a 133-78 flat-track win over Arizona on Saturday night in Del Mar.  Look for Kali Katt’s recap in the next day or two here on 619 Sports.  The real action gets started February 6th when the new banked track makes its Del Mar debut.
• The San Diego Sockers jump back in action this Thursday night on 619 Sports.  It’s the biggest game of the season to date, as the Sockers face off against their Western Division rivals the California Cougars for the third time.  The Cougars are the defending PASL-Pro champs, but when they lost Aaron Susi to the Sockers in the offseason, the balance of power shifted south.  However, the Cougars have rebounded to win five straight and are now 9-3, just 1 1/2 games behind the 10-1 Sockers in the standings.  Stockton is 4-0 at home, and they will be looking for revenge after losing to San Diego twice in overtime at the Del Mar Arena.  The only place to follow the Sockers on the road is 619Sports.Net!  Join me for the live webstreaming broadcast (on our livestream channel) starting at 7pm on Thursday night!

Sixteen missed free throws.  Sixteen turnovers on the Tritons’ home floor.

And a four-point loss to show for it.

The numbers were easy to add up on Thursday night, as UCSD shot themselves in the foot and still almost came back to beat a vulnerable opponent.  Instead, the Tritons (3-8, 2-6 CCAA) were left to ponder another loss, falling 66-62 in front of a crowd of 682 at RIMAC Arena.

An effort that was solid in many areas for UCSD (defense, rebounding) was wasted thanks to breakdowns in other areas (free throw shooting, turnovers).

Most vexing to head coach Chris Carlson was the fact that just one game before, the Tritons went 29-32 from the line to improve to 3rd in the CCAA in team free throw shooting (71%).  Then on Thursday, UCSD (17-33 FTs) missed on the front end of their first four one-and-one opportunities.

“We’re more of a 90 percent free throw shooting-type team,” said Carlson, “I just think it’s a concentration level and a focus, and for whatever reason we didn’t have it tonight.  If we’re getting to the line 33 times we need to make the other team pay for it.”

Watch a postgame video interview with Carlson and read more after the jump:

Jordan Lawley (17 points, 10 rebounds) finally cashed in on the front end of a one-and-one with less than 7 minutes to go in the game, then missed the second…leaving the Tritons with one out of a possible 10 points in those trips to the line.

You don’t need to go to Revelle to see where this one’s headed.

Still, thanks to a tenacious second-half effort on the offensive glass and on defense, UCSD mounted three different comeback attempts at Monterey Bay.

Trailing by 12 (33-21) in the final minute of the first half, the Tritons trimmed the lead all the way down to three (33-30) in the first three minutes of the second half.  Then, Otters senior guard Shaun Williams unleashed a mini-blitz.

First, Williams canned a three-pointer from the corner while being fouled, converting the four-point play.  Then, after a quick steal, Williams rose up and drained another triple.  It was a seven-point burst that kept the Tritons playing from behind.

“That’s part of the problem,” said Coach Carlson, “when you have to come back three different times.”

Eventually UCSD took a brief 55-53 lead with 5:30 to play, but the Otters canned their free throws down the stretch (11-12 last five minutes) while the Tritons missed on a Lawley runner that would have given them a one-point lead with 20 seconds to play.

After the game, Carlson spoke with 619 Sports about the effort:

The Tritons will try to pick up a second win in the finale of their four-game homestand on Saturday, when they host San Francisco State at 7:30pm.

Also see: Half Good Enough for UCSD Women This Time

Chelsea Carlisle scored 20 points to lead UCSD (Jimmy Gekas/Sideline Studios)

LA JOLLA–Coming into Thursday’s home game against Cal State Monterey Bay, UCSD head coach Charity Elliott had a goal.

Yes, her Tritons were 12-0 and ranked 7th in the country in Division II, but that matters little to her.  Of late the team had been making a habit of playing only one good half of basketball.  Winning’s always the goal, but UCSD wanted a complete performance on their home floor to advance the cause.

Well, there’s always another chance on Saturday.

UCSD stormed out to a 35-20 halftime lead against the Otters, then held on for dear life, eventually securing a 68-63 victory at RIMAC Arena.  The victory runs UCSD to 11-0 all time against CSUMB, and pushes their perfect record out to 13-0, 8-0 CCAA.

A lead that swelled to 16 early in the second half dropped all the way down to one point with 2:15 to play. That’s when Chelsea Carlisle took over.  The sophomore point guard showed why she’s the CCAA’s leading scorer (18.1 ppg), pouring in seven of her game-high 20 points in the final two minutes.

“We’re just a team that knows how to win,” said Carlisle, who popped a guarded three-pointer with 1:59 to play coming down the wing, opening a four-point cushion for the Tritons.  On the ensuing Monterey Bay possession Carlisle grabbed a steal, then fed her backcourt teammate Annette Ilg (10 points), who drew a foul and hit both free throws.

Watch a postgame video interview with Charity Elliott after the jump:

For most of the game UCSD struggled to generate anything on offense, shooting just 33% from the field while missing 10 of 26 free throws.  It was on defense where the Tritons made the Otters pay, forcing 19 turnovers which led to 25 points.

The Tritons also made a living on the boards, led by tenacious junior Tiffany Hunter, who cleared seven offensive rebounds on route to a team-high total of 11.  Carlisle added a season-best 9 rebounds.

The Otters came alive in the second half behind a flurry of three-pointers from Michelle Santizo (14 points) and London Houchin (12 points).  When Santizo drained back-to-back baskets with 2:15 to play, a lead that had been in double digits for most of the night was down to one point.

The Tritons escaped, but head coach Charity Elliott still feels there are many issues to address.  She talked to 619 Sports in a video interview after the game:

UCSD is back in action against San Francisco State at RIMAC Arena on Saturday night.  The game tips off at 5:30pm.