BOX SCORE

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SEASIDE, Calif. — Its been said that offense wins games, but defense wins championships. Wednesday night in The Kelp Bed, the Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team flashed both in a 79–63 win over west region rival Academy of Art.

CSUMB (4–1 overall) entered the game ranked No. 7 nationally in scoring defense. ArtU (6–2) ranked No. 30 in scoring offense. On the defensive end, the Otters did their job, holding ArtU 14 points below its season average. But the Otter offense stepped up as well, shooting 59.3 percent from the field, the third best shooting night in school history.

Chief contributor to that effort was senior forward Gabby Munsch (Lodi/Cal State San Marcos), who matched her career high with 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Senior forward Brittani Jefferson (Palmdale/Antelope Valley JC) added CSUMB's first double–double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Jessica Fontenette (Chino Hills/Bishop Amat) matched her career high with seven assists.

Jordan Rogers led the Urban Knights with 14 points while Katy Wade pulled down a game–high 11 rebounds.

The teams traded leads four times in the first nine minutes before consecutive layups by Munsch and Fontenette put CSUMB up for good at 21–18. Another Fontenette layup gave the Otters their biggest lead of the half at 14 points, although they settled on a 41–32 lead at the break.

ArtU never got closer than seven points the rest of the way as CSUMB eventually built a 20–point lead before the final media timeout and cruised down the stretch to the win.

Wednesday's game closed the nonconference portion of the CSUMB schedule. The Otters return to California Collegiate Athletic Association play Saturday evening when they travel to Hayward to take on Cal State East Bay. Tip–off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. as the opener of men's/women's doubleheader action. Fans can listen live at www.OtterAthletics.com with Rob Ponce calling the play–by–play.