BELLINGHAM, Wash. ? Senior forward Michelle Osier tallied her first double-double of the season, lifting the UC San Diego women's basketball team to a 60-52 triumph over Western Washington University in the final game of the 2008 GNAC/CCAA Crossover Classic Saturday night at Sam Carver Gymnasium. Osier led all scorers with 21 points and hauled in a season-high 10 rebounds as the Tritons remained perfect all-time against the Vikings.

After nearly upsetting No. 22 Seattle Pacific on Friday, UCSD responded with a gritty performance on Saturday to hand Western Washington (2-1) it's first loss of the season. The Tritons improved to 2-1 with the victory.  

“We really got after it defensively for a full 40 minutes tonight,” head coach Charity Elliot said. “I thought we did an excellent job of keeping our composure and weathering the storm when they made their run. It was a great team effort and we beat a very, very good team.”

UCSD, which led wire-to-wire, held WWU to under 30% (18-61) shooting for the game and forced the Vikings into 30 turnovers. The Tritons finished with a season-high 19 steals leading to a decisive 22-7 advantage in points off mistakes.

Osier had six of the steals herself, which was two shy of her career mark. Annette Ilg finished with 11 points, five rebounds, and four steals, while Leilani Martin scored 11 points and dished out three assists.  

UCSD used a 14-0 run over a span of 8:42 in the first half to take 22-6 lead. Ilg and Martin converted three-point plays to cap off the spurt as the Tritons outscored the Vikings 14-4 in the paint in the opening period.

Claire Pallansch finally ended the drought for Western Washington with a baseline jumper and the Vikings closed to within 12 (28-16) at the break.

Leading 32-22 less than three minutes into the second half, UCSD scored the next eight points to take its biggest lead of the game at 18 points, before the Vikings made a run. Marelle Moehrie hit three consecutive triples to bring WWU to within nine at 42-31 with 12:48 remaining.

The Vikings kept chipping away and closed to within 54-48 following Amanda Dunbar's layup, but Martin responded with two free throws the next time down. Western Washington cut the deficit to six once again at 56-50 with less than two minutes to play, but Ilg scored in transition to effectively put the game out of reach.

UCSD's defense held the home team without a field goal over the final 1:43 to ice the 60-52 victory.

The Tritons shot 35% (23-65) for the game, improving to 4-0 against the Vikings. Western Washington held a 49-40 edge in rebounds.

Osier and Gaskin where named to the all-tournament team, while Jessica Summers earned a nod after leading WWU with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. The team also included tournament MVP Megan Hoisington and Daesha Henderson from Seattle Pacific, and Reyana Colson of Cal Poly Pomona.  SPU beat Cal Poly Pomona, 90-58, in Saturday's first game of the day.

The Tritons will now head to Fairbanks, Alaska where they will play three games in three days during the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational November 27-29. UCSD will open the tournament against Holy Family Thursday at 6:30 p.m.