FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Trailing by as much as 14 points early in the fourth quarter, Cal State San Bernardino cut a 10-point deficit in half over the final two minutes but fell short in a 70-65 loss Saturday to Multnomah University of Portland, Ore.
The Yotes finished the McKinley Bank North Star Invitational with an 0-2 record and stand at 2-2 heading into the CCAA conference opener on Thursday at Chico State.
Multnomah, a member of the Cascade College Athletic Conference of the NAIA (National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics), evened its season record at 3-3. It was the first-ever meeting of the two teams.
The Yotes trailed most of the game as the Lions led 20-19 after one quarter, 36-33 at halftime and by seven, 51-44, heading into the final 10-minute quarter.
Multnomah outscored CSUSB 9-2 in the first 2.5 minutes of the fourth quarter to take a 60-46 lead with 7:31 left in the game. Freshman
Jaushlynn Ruffin grabbed an offensive rebound (her ninth of the game) and made the putback to make it 68-58.
Destiny Jackson sank two free throws at the 1:13 mark.
Samantha Henley stole the ball and nailed a three-pointer to make it 68-63 with 1:03 left. The Lions' Kaela Stonebarger made two free throws with 58 seconds remaining for a 70-63 lead.
After
Mia Dufresne blocked a shot by Kailyn Alison with 10 seconds left,
Tori Guzman rebounded a miss by Henley and made the putback with one second left as the Yotes fell five points short at 70-65.
Tournament officials announced after the event that Dufresne was named to the all-tournament team for her performance in the two losses. The 6-foot-1 center led the Yotes with 16 points, 12 rebounds, a blocked shot and a steal against the Lions. On Friday, Dufresne scored 12 points with six rebounds, one block and three steals. For the two games, she totaled 28 points, 16 rebounds, two blocks and four steals.
The Yotes improved their field goal shooting to 32.8 percent, sinking 21 of 64 attempts, but made only three of 18 attempts from the three-point line (16.7 percent). Free throw shooting improved to 55.6 percent (20 of 36).
Backing up Dufresne were
Destiny Jackson with 13 points, sinking nine of 14 free throw attempts together with seven rebounds and one blocked shot.
Samantha Henley scored 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds, made four steals and assisted on four baskets.
Jaida Jackson added 10 points for the Yotes.
Defensively, the team made four steals and four blocked shots.
Multnomah was sharp from the free throw line, sinking 14 of 15 tries (95 percent). The Lions made 10 of 24 three-pointers (41.7 percent), and hit 23 of 56 field goals overall (41 percent).
UP NEXT: The Yotes will be on the road to face Chico State at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, and Cal Poly Humboldt at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2. Watch the action via CCAA live streaming or follow the live stats at csusbathletics.com. Chico State leads the all-time series against the Yotes, 28-18 dating back to 1995-96. The teams have split their last 10 meetings. Cal Poly Humboldt leads the series with the Yotes 20-14 dating back to the 2006-07 season but the Yotes have won the last four in a row.
