Senior guard Stefanie Corgel played a solid all-around game with 15 points, seven rebounds and four steals.
BOX SCORE
SEASIDE, Calif. — For one night at least, the irresistible force trumped the immovable object. The Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team used its usual suffocating defense to slow down high-flying Menlo College in an 87-53 exhibition win for the Otters Saturday night in The Kelp Bed.
All 12 Otters who saw action Saturday night scored, with junior
Rebecca Griffin leading four in double figures with 17 points. Senior
Stefanie Corgel added 15 points with game highs of seven rebounds and four steals.
Brittani Jefferson chipped in 14 points and
Nikki Beckman finished with 12.
Menlo came to Seaside sporting a 92 point per game scoring average. Included in the Oaks' 3-0 start was a 91-64 throttling of Pac West Conference member Notre Dame de Namur Wednesday night. But the CSUMB defense had not allowed 90 points in a regulation length game since Jan. 3, 2009, so something had to give.
Otter fans had to pause as Menlo leading scorer Jolise Limcaco hit a deuce and a trey on the first two Oak possessions to give Menlo a 5-0 lead with the game barely a minute old. That quick start proved to be just the tonic the Otters needed as the defense clamped down to allow Menlo just 16 points over the final 19 minutes of the first half.
It was still a two-point game at 11-9 when the Otter offense finally hit its stride. Three-pointers by Beckman on consecutive Otter possessions quickly extended the lead to eight points. A Jefferson jumper gave CSUMB its first double-digit-lead at 22-11. But the Otter defense didn't put the hammer down for another three minutes.
After Limcaco's short jumper got Menlo to within 28-21 at the 5:06 mark, CSUMB made its big move. The Otters didn't allow the Oaks to score again until their fourth possession of the second half. That defensive intensity ignited a 17-0 run that put CSUMB in complete control at 47-21.
A pair of Corgel free throws and a layup on consecutive trips down the court got the lead above 30 at 69-37 with eight minutes remaining and it never dipped into the 20's for the duration.
CSUMB will kickoff its 2012-13 season in earnest Nov. 16-17 when it heads to Belmont for the Lady Argo Classic. The Otters will face host Notre Dame de Namur in the opener Friday before taking on Shepherd (WVa.) University Saturday.
GO OTTERS!
