Mykayla Harris scored all of her career-high 16 points in the first half of Saturday's 57-45 win over Southwest Minnesota State.
BOX SCORE
CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY 57, SW MINNESOTA 45
FINAL BOX SCORE |
|
SCOREBOARD |
1 |
2 |
OT |
FINAL |
|
Southwest Minnesota State (1-1) |
23 |
22 |
|
45 |
|
Cal St. Monterey Bay (2-0) |
26 |
31 |
|
57 |
|
|
TOP PERFORMERS |
|
|
BELMONT, Calif. — After experiencing a little culture shock with the record–breaking, season–opening 98–70 win over Dixie State, fans of the Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball program enjoyed a more traditional CSUMB victory Saturday afternoon when the Otters defeated Southwest Minnesota State 57–45 at Notre Dame de Namur's Gleason Gym.
The Otters improved to 2–0 under first–year Head Coach
Kerri Nakamoto (
@CoachKNakamoto). SMSU fell to 1–1 with the loss.
The Otters came out cold early and fell behind by as many as 10 points in the first half. But sophomore center
Mykayla Harris (Orange/Villa Park HS) scored all of her career–high 16 points in the periodto keep CSUMB afloat until it righted the ship.
"I was proud of how the girls fought today. Our shots weren't falling early, but I was happy how we kept at it and were able to grind it out," said Nakamoto. "We took care of the basketball and stayed positive, which allowed us to pull away down the stretch."
Trailing 21–11 midway through the first period, a short Harris jumper began a gradual 15–2 run that put the Otters up by three, 26–23, at intermission.
The Mustangs scored the first bucket of the second half, but a layup and 3–pointer from
Ashley Morgan (Rohnert Park/Santa Rosa JC) gave the Otters a two possession lead. SMSU cut the deficit to one point one more time at 32–31, but another Morgan 3–pointer kick–started a 12–2 Otter spurt that gave CSUMB its first double digit lead, 45–33. The Mustangs never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.
In addition to Harris, junior guard
Nikki Beckman (Dublin/Ohlone College) also reached double figures with 11 points for CSUMB. Beckman also passed for a game–high four assists while Morgan pulled down a game–high 12 rebounds.
CSUMB concludes play at the 3–team Argo Classic by playing host NDNU Sunday at 2 p.m.
GO OTTERS!
