Game No. 18
UC San Diego Tritons (15-1, 10-1) vs. Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes (10-6, 6-5)
Saturday, January 30, 2010
RIMAC Arena (5,000) • 5:30 pm

First Things First
After splitting two games on the road last week, the UC San Diego women's basketball team returns to La Jolla to begin its second four-game homestand this month. The league-leading Tritons will face third place Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday evening, before fifth place Cal State San Bernardino pays a visit to RIMAC Arena on Saturday. Both games will tipoff at 5:30 p.m. After the Broncos and Coyotes come to town, UCSD will square off with Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State L.A. Feb. 2 and 6.

On the Record
UCSD comes home with an overall record of 15-1 and a 10-1 mark in California Collegiate Athletic Association play following a 1-1 trip to Humboldt State and Sonoma State last week. The Tritons suffered their first loss of the season in an 84-80 setback to the Lumberjacks on Thursday, but bounced back to knock off the Seawolves, 68-52, on Saturday. UCSD's winning steak ended at 14 games, which is two victories shy of the program's all-time mark set during the 1997-98 campaign. Despite the loss to the Lumberjacks, the Tritons enter play this week with half-game lead in the CCAA standings. The Tritons are a perfect 8-0 at home this season and have won 33 of their last 35 league games overall.

Rank and File
The Tritons' loss to Humboldt State translated into a three-spot fall in the national rankings, as UCSD came in at No. 10 in this week's USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll. UCSD had spent the previous two weeks at No. 7 in the poll, which stands as the team's highest ranking of the season. The Tritons, who began 2009-10 at No. 14, have been ranked as high as No. 7 each of the last two years. UCSD earned a No. 3 national ranking in 2007-08 when Charity Elliott led the squad to the NCAA West Regional Semifinals in her first season with the program.

Scouting the Broncos
Cal Poly Pomona comes to town with an overall record of 12-3 and a 9-2 conference mark following a road split at San Francisco State and Cal State Monterey Bay last week. The Broncos, who are currently one game behind the Tritons in the league standings, defeated the Gators in overtime, 68-66, on Friday, but lost to the Otters the next night by a 60-54 margin. Pomona boasts the CCAA's top defense, limiting opponents to just 54.5 points per game, while the offense ranks sixth, putting up 60.7. Junior guard Reyana Colson leads the team in both scoring and assists, averaging 16.5 and 3.2, respectively, and ranks third on the team hauling down 6.3 rebounds. She is also shooting a team-high 42% from the field. Senior Stephisha Walton is another player to keep an eye on, averaging 11.7 points and a team-high 9.5 boards. UCSD holds a narrow 10-9 advantage over CPP in the all-time series after taking the first matchup of the year, 48-43, in Pomona on Dec. 5. Chelsea Carlisle scored a game-high 16 points and Tiffany Hunter recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards to lead the way.

Scouting the Coyotes
Cal State San Bernardino owns an overall record of 10-6 and a 6-5 mark in the CCAA after defeating Cal State Monterey Bay (59-57) and losing to San Francisco State (63-46) last week. CSUSB ranks fifth in the conference averaging 61.7 points per game, while the Coyote defense ranks sixth, allowing 60.4. Senior guard Krystal Urzua drives the CSUSB offense, averaging a team-high 16.8 points to go with 5.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists. She is also shooting 45.5% from the three-point arc, a figure that leads the CCAA. Junior forward Kymberly Ooten has been impressive as well, averaging 12.4 points and 6.1 boards through 16 games. The Tritons defeated the Coyotes 69-55 in San Bernardino on Dec. 4 and now hold a 20-17 advantage in the all-time series. Carlisle scored a team-high 15 points and UCSD shot a season-best 56% in the win. The Coyotes will travel to Cal State East Bay on Thursday, before coming to La Jolla on Saturday.

Is There Anything She Can't Do?
After a stellar freshman campaign a year ago, Chelsea Carlisle is having a superb second season for the Tritons in 2009-10. The sophomore point guard enters Thursday's contest leading the CCAA in scoring at 18.0 points per game, while shooting better than 42% for the season. In addition to scoring, Carlisle leads the team in assists (3.1), steals (2.4), three-pointers made (36), free throws made (57), and free throw percentage (83%) through 16 games. The Agoura Hills, Calif. native shined on the road last week, averaging 21.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists against Humboldt State and Sonoma State. She converted 56% (14-25) of her shots for the week and hit seven threes in the two games. She finished with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting and tallied four rebounds and four assists in the loss to the Lumberjacks.

Forward Thinking
Junior transfer Tiffany Hunter has made a huge impact this season, averaging 10.2 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds in her first season as a Triton. She ranks third on the squad shooting 45.2% from the field entering Thursday's game and has scored in double figures on 10 occasions this season. After a mini three-game slump from Jan. 9-16, the Fallbrook, Calif. came up big for UCSD last week, averaging 12.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.5 steals against Humboldt State and Sonoma State. In the loss to the Lumberjacks, she finished with 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting and tallied three boards and three steals. She had another solid effort in the win over the Seawolves two nights later, tallying 10 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals in 28 minutes. Hunter is third on the team in scoring for the season.

Sharp Shooter
Sophomore guard Daisy Feder has been on fire from three-point range lately, shooting better than 57% from behind the arc in the Tritons' last eight games. The Santa Monica native has hit 12-of-21 three-point attempts over that stretch and is now shooting a team-high 41% from distance on the season. She hit a pair of threes and finished with 10 points in UCSD's four-point loss to Humboldt State last week and has now scored in double figures three times in 2009-10. For the season, Feder is averaging 6.1 points on 41% shooting in just 13.4 minutes per game.

Lumberjacks Hand Tritons First Loss
Humboldt State shot better than 48% from the field and sank 12 threes on the way to an 84-80 victory over UCSD at Lumberjack Gym last Thursday. The loss was the Tritons' first of the season and first in conference play since Cal State San Bernardino came to RIMAC Arena and defeated UCSD, 64-59, on Feb. 14 of last season. Brittney Taylor finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Lumberjacks, while Andrea Bobic scored a career-high 25. Humboldt shot 44% from the three-point arc, draining 12-of-27 attempts. Chelsea Carlisle scored 22 points to lead four players in double figures for the Tritons, but it wasn't enough against a fired-up Humboldt squad. UCSD shot just under 48% from the field, but connected on just 7-of-20 three-point tries, 35%.

UCSD Signs Seven For 2010-11
UCSD signed seven high school seniors to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period, head coach Charity Elliott announced on November 17. Nicole Anderson-Jew, a 5-6 guard from San Rafael; Erin Dautremont, a 6-0 forward from West Hills; Lilly Feder, a 5-9 forward from Santa Monica; Katie Holiday, a 5-10 forward from Poway; Rachel Marty, a 5-9 guard from Menlo Park; Megan Perry, a 5-7 guard from Coto de Caza; and Elaina White, a 5-10 guard from San Diego, will join the Tritons for the 2010-11 season as true freshmen. The complete release on the signings can be found at ucsdtritons.com.

Tritons Top Pick In 2009-10 CCAA Coaches Poll
After winning the CCAA regular season title with a near-perfect record of 19-1 in 2008-09, UC San Diego was selected to finish first in the CCAA standings again this season, according to the preseason coaches poll that was released by the league office in October. UCSD received five first place votes and a total of 110 points to edge out Cal Poly Pomona, which finished second with 104 points and four first place votes. Humboldt State collected 102 points and four first place votes to finish third, while 2009 CCAA Tournament Champion Cal State Dominguez Hills finished fourth with 99 points and the remaining first place vote. Chico State (88 points) finished fifth, with Cal State San Bernardino (58), San Francisco State (57), Cal State Monterey Bay (52), Sonoma State (42), Cal State Stanislaus (39), and Cal State L.A. (22) finishing sixth through 11th, respectively.