LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The 18th-ranked UC San Diego women's basketball team dropped a tough 79-69 decision to 6th-ranked Chico State on Friday night inside RIMAC Arena on the UCSD campus. With the victory the Wildcats remain unbeaten and improve to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in CCAA play while the Tritons fall to 1-1 on the year, 0-1 in league action.
Niki Simons led four Chico State players in double figure scoring, pouring in 19 points while pulling down eight rebounds. She connected on three of her four shots from long distance. Amber Simmons added a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 13 boards while Haley Ford went 4-for-8 from long range en route to her 18 points. Jade Smith-Williams rounded out the Chico State players in double digits, scoring 11 points and handing out a game-high six assists.
The 2005-06 CCAA Player of the Year, Leora Juster, scored 30 points to lead the UCSD offense on the night. The mark represents the second time in as many games that the Los Angeles native scored at least 30 points. She scored 37 in the season-opener against Northwest Nazarene and had five 30-point contests last year.
Fellow senior Hillary Hansen notched her second double-double of the year, scoring 10 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Junior Meaghan Noud added eight points while Juster led the team in assists with five.
The Wildcats shot 50% from behind the 3-point arc on the night, making nine of 18 shots from long range while limiting the Tritons to less than 30% from behind the arc. UCSD made only four of 14 3-point attempts.
Chico State out-rebounded the Tritons by a 43-35 margin on the night and made 16 of 21 free throw attempts. UCSD led Chico State in shooting from the floor but managed to shoot only 56.5% from the charity stripe, missing 10 of the 23 free throws attempted.
Head coach Janell Jones and her team returns to action on Saturday, hosting Cal State Stanislaus at 5:30 p.m. Chico State travels to Cal State Dominguez Hills for a 5:30 p.m. matchup with the Toros on Saturday as well.
