Box Score STOCKTON (March 5, 2015) -- The month of March is all about surviving and advancing and that's what the Coyotes accomplished in fine fashion Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the CCAA Tournament.

Behind a strong second-half shooting effort, junior Chelsea Barnes scored a game-high 22 points to lead the No. 5 Coyotes past No. 4 UC San Diego 69-58 at Stockton Arena. The Coyotes (19-8 overall) now advance to Friday's semifinals against top-seed Cal State Dominguez Hills (24-6) at 12:05 p.m.

CSUSB turned the game to its advantage by playing stout defense and pounding the ball inside, especially in the second half. It shot 54.2 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes and scored 38 points for the game from the paint.

"Our resiliency on defense paid off,'' said coach Renee Jimenez, whose team lost to the Tritons 64-61 last Saturday in San Bernardino. "Staying alive in March is what's most important. We got our subbing rotation in order and the girls did a great job of playing strong late with the lead.''

Barnes was joined by Adriana Brodie (15 points and 10 rebounds) and Briana Harden (13 points and nine rebounds) in starring roles. Time and again, the Coyotes pounded the ball inside and once they earned the lead after the game's seventh tie, CSUSB stayed in control.

Barnes connected on a jumper in the paint that jet-started an 8-0 spurt and UCSD never recovered. Brodie added a layup and Barnes followed with a jumper. UCSD then got off three 3-point attempts that did not go down, and Brodie finished off the run with a pair of free throws that put CSUSB ahead 64-56 with 1:20 remaining.

"We played with a lot of tenacity,'' Barnes said. "We were patient, worked the ball around and hit big shots inside.''

And just to keep the Tritons off-balance, Harden hit two 3-pointers in the second that spread out UCSD's defense and kept the Coyotes strong inside.

It also was pleasing to Jimenez that her team was 14-of-15 from the line, hitting their first 12 shots.

"It was a little bit of an elephant in the room because we missed some free throws late in the season that hurt our chances,'' she said. "You never want to have the game come down to the line, and by hitting our shots early, we were relaxed and poised.''

Farrah Shokoor and Beth Mounier led UCSD (18-10) with 11 points apiece.

The win also kept alive the Coyotes' chances for an NCAA Tournament berth. CSUSD is ranked 10th in the last regional poll and UCSD was ninth.