BOX SCORE

CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY 98, DIXIE STATE 70 FINAL BOX SCORE  |  POSTGAME VIDEO

SCOREBOARD  1  2  OT  FINAL Dixie State (0-1)  28   42  70 Cal St. Monterey Bay (1-0)  61  37  98

TOP PERFORMERS

OTTERS No. STAT No. RED STORM Nikki Beckman 18 Points 25 Haley Holmstead Holly Holcomb 8 Rebounds 9 Haley Holmstead Nikki Beckman 6 Assists 5 Kaylah Miller

SEASIDE, Calif. — The play sounded different, but the song remained the same as the Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team opened the Kerri Nakamoto (@CoachKNakamoto) era with a rousing 98–70 win over West Region rival Dixie State Saturday afternoon in The Kelp Bed.

Nakamoto's first collegiate victory made an indelible mark in the Otter record book. The 98 points were the most scored by an Otter team at the NCAA Division II level, eclipsing the previous high of 95 points scored against the University of Mary on Nov. 5, 2008. The 28–point margin of victory ranks No. 5 on the CSUMB all–time list.

"It was a big relief. I was a little bit stressed out but I was excited," said Nakamoto of her debutante coaching performance. "The girls were great. They worked their tails off. To be able to do this in our first game was really special."

CSUMB put seven players in double figures (itself a school record), led by junior guard Nikki Beckman (Dublin/Ohlone College), who passed for a career–high six assists to go along with her team–leading 18 points. The Otters also got 14 points apiece from starters Holly Holcomb (Ventura/Buena HS) and Ashley Morgan (Rohnert Park/Santa Rosa JC).

Freshman Victoria Dorn (Marina/Seaside HS) led four Otters in double figures off the bench with 13 points.
CSUMB never trailed and took the lead for good at 5–2 less than one minute in on a Beckman 3–pointer. A Morgan three at the 15:28 mark put the Otter advantage permanently in double digits at 14–4. The lead steadily grew to 33 points by halftime (61–28) and to as many as 36 midway through the second half before settling on the 28–point final margin.

"It was nice to knock down some shots in the first half," said Nakamoto. "We shot the ball really well in practice this week."

The big win also masked a glaring free–throw discrepancy in which Dixie went to the line 46 times compared to 12 by CSUMB. Although the Red Storm finished with 32 points from the line, the Otter defense forced 25 turnovers and held Dixie to 31.6 percent shooting from the floor to mitigate the disparity.

Alaska–Anchorage transfer Haley Holmstead led all scorers with 25 points for Dixie State. She also led both team on the glass with nine rebounds.

CSUMB will take a week off before returning to action Nov. 16 against Southwest Minnesota State at Notre Dame de Namur in Belmont. The Otters return home to open their CCAA schedule against Cal State L.A. on Dec. 6.