LA MIRADA – Redshirt senior
Destiny Jackson scored 26 points, including three late in overtime Friday to enable Cal State San Bernardino's women's basketball team to open its 2023-24 season Friday with a 78-76 win over Concordia University Irvine.
It was the second straight season-opening win for the Yotes, who beat Point Loma Nazarene 81-63 in the 2022 opener last November behind 23 points from Jackson. CSUSB was picked to finish eighth in the CCAA conference this season while CUI was tabbed for fourth place in the Pacific West Conference.
The Yotes (1-0) return to Biola University on Saturday for a 3 p.m. game against the host Eagles in the Cross Conference Tournament.
As might be expected in a season-opener, there were lots of highs and lows for both teams. The game was very tight for four quarters and the five-minute overtime as a result. The two teams combined for 45 turnovers.
Jackson, CSUSB's leading scorer in 2022-23 at nearly 14 points a game, picked up her 26 points by making nine of 15 field goals and eight of 12 free throws to go with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals in 42 minutes of play.
Teammate
Jaida Jackson, a redshirt junior, put up 12 points and was three-for-three from beyond the 3-point arc. She was also a pesky defender with a match high eight steals in just 30 minutes of playing time, just shy of the team record of nine steals set way back in 1991.
Freshman guard
Jaushlynn Ruffin (Lynwood HS), sparked the overtime win with a field goal just five seconds into extra time and finished with nine points and four rebounds in just 16 minutes of playing time before leaving with five fouls.
Redshirt junior
Mia Dufresne (Narbonne HS) used her 6-foot-1 height to score seven points, grab a team-high nine rebounds and block one shot in 23 minutes of action. Senior guard
Deja Blue (Moreno Valley, Mt. San Jacinto College) scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds to aid in the victory.
Samantha Henley, the redshirt Jr. guard (Ventura HS), had a tough day from the field hitting just one of 11 shots and was 0-for-5 on three pointers, but did dish off a game-high eight assists and make four steals in 40 minutes of action.
For the Golden Eagles, three players scored 15 points apiece, led by senior forward Sayanna Felix-Amoroso who grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and made three steals. Teagan Therman, a junior forward-center, added 10 rebounds and blocked two shots. Freshman guard Izzy Navarro scored 15 points as well.
Teams can live or die from three-point territory and CUI was made only four of 20 shots from afar while the Yotes hit four of 11 tries from long range.
Teams can also get into trouble at the foul line. Concordia was 20 of 29 from the charity stripe while the Yotes were a dismal 16 of 31 (51 percent).
The Yotes bench outscored the Golden Eagles 34-17. Both teams failed to take advantage of turnovers. CSUSB scored just 13 points and CUI just nine after takeaways.
But, if you like close games, this one lived up to that big time.
CSUSB led 22-21 after the first 10-minute quarter and it was tied at the half 35-35 and again after three quarters at 52-all. At the end of regulation in the fourth quarter it was knotted again at 71-all after CUI's junior guard Camryn Kiernan buried a three-pointer with 36 seconds left.
Destiny Jackson missed a potential game-winner with eight seconds left and teammate
Tori Guzman grabbed the rebound with six seconds left but a turnover gave the ball back to the Golden Eagles who called timeout to set up a final shot. Junior forward Erika Maggard's three-pointer at the buzzer missed. And it was on to overtime.
It was the first overtime game for the Yotes since Nov. 9, 2019, when they lost to to Point Loma Nazarene in extra time during that year's Cross Conference Tournament at Biola. The last overtime win for the Yotes was an 86-84 decision over Cal Poly Humboldt on Feb. 12, 2011.
UP NEXT: The Yotes take on the host Biola Eagles at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Cross Conference Tournament in Biola's gym. Follow the stats at csusbathletics.com or watch the live streaming on the CCAA network.
