CARSON, Calif. - Sophomore point guard
Chelsea Carlisle scored a season-high 28 points to lead the 14th-ranked UC San Diego women's basketball team to a 69-64 triumph over CCAA foe Cal State Dominguez Hills on Sunday afternoon at the Torodome. Carlisle came through down the stretch once again, scoring seven of the Tritons' final nine points to help down the Toros.
UCSD improves to 10-0 for the first time in program history, building on the school record for wins to open a season that was established with Saturday's 65-61 victory at Cal State L.A. The Tritons, who have won 28 of their last 29 league games spanning the last three seasons, are now 5-0 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play.
CSUDH, which had won two in a row entering Sunday's matchup, falls to 3-7 overall and 2-3 in the CCAA with the loss.
Carlisle finished 8-for-21 from the field and a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line to reach the 20-point mark for the fourth time in 10 games this season. She surpassed her previous high of 26 points that came in UCSD's win over Western Washington last week and finished two points shy of her career scoring mark.
The Agoura Hills, Calif. native also finished with five rebounds, two assists, and three steals in a game-high 35 minutes.
Tiffany Hunter had another solid outing for the Tritons, finishing with 13 points, seven boards, and five steals. The junior transfer was 4-of-8 from the field and 5-of-9 at the charity stripe.
A day after hitting a clutch three-pointer in the waning moments against the Golden Eagles, Carlisle came up big again on Sunday, drilling her third triple of the game with 58 seconds left to break a 60-60 tie. The Tritons had trailed 60-58, but
Annette Ilg came up with a steal and hit the ensuing jumper and Carlisle followed with the big three to give UCSD the lead for good.
Brandie McCann answered with a jumper for the Toros with 45 seconds left, but two free throws from Hunter and four from Carlisle in the final 0:32 sealed the win for the Tritons.
UCSD shot just under 40% for the game, while CSUDH finished at a 42% clip. The Tritons were plus-8 at the free throw line and scored 20 points off 22 Toro turnovers.
Whitney Gantt converted 7-of-8 shots from the field en route to 16 points for Cal State Dominguez Hills. McCann finished with 14 points, while Neka Mixon tallied 13 points and 11 boards.
The Tritons trailed by as many as 11 in the opening half (14-3), but rallied to pull within 29-24 at halftime.
UCSD led 48-43 following two free throws from
Lauren Freidenberg with 9:31 remaining, but CSUDH came back to tie it at 49 and neither team would lead by more than two until Carisle's three with less than a minute to go.
The game featured a total of 13 lead changes and 12 ties.
The Tritons will now return to RIMAC Arena to host Chico State in their CCAA home opener Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
