SAN BERNARDINO – Cal State San Bernardino dominated Cal State East Bay from start to finish Thursday night to win their CCAA conference women's basketball home opener, 71-57, over the visiting Pioneers in Coussoulis Arena.
Coming off two long road trips and four losses, the Yotes started fast, leading 21-9 in the first quarter behind 10 points from leading scorer
Destiny Jackson and never looked back as they improved to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
The Pioneers dropped to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in the CCAA.
Senior
Destiny Jackson led the Yotes once again with 19 points on eight of 13 shooting from the field, nine rebounds and two steals. Post player
Mia Dufresne had 14 points on six of eight shooting, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a season high five blocked shots.
Jaida Jackson was a facilitator as well as a scorer and defender, scoring 12 points, collecting eight rebounds, a season-high eight assists and two steals.
Auren Isaacson also scored 12 points with a pair of three-pointers, seven rebounds, four assists and a steal.
CSUSB shot 42 per cent from the floor (27 of 64) and made 14 of 20 free throws (70 percent) with 10 steals and 12 blocked shots.
Cal State East Bay, playing without one of its premier players in Taylor Linzie (10.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game), were unable to keep pace, trailing by 12 in the first period and 10 points at the half 35-25. The Yotes had a 15-point lead with three minutes before halftime, but Payton Sterk and Kayla Rosemon scored the last five points before intermission.
CSUSB started fast in the third period, outscoring the visitors 11-1 in the first three minutes for a 46-26 lead and led by 21 points, 49-28 after Isaacson buried a three-pointer off a steal by teammate
Olivia Lee.
The Yotes took a 56-43 lead into the fourth quarter after Pioneers' sophomore Rosemon scored eight of her game-high 20 points late in the period to make it closer.
The hosts expanded their lead to 22 points on a layup by reserve Citali Salazar off an assist by
Jaida Jackson to make it 68-46 with 5:02 left in the game.
CSUSB held East Bay to 27 percent shooting from the floor (27 of 76) and made only three of 11 from beyond the arc. The Pioneers converted just 54 percent of their free throws (12 of 22), but led in rebounding 51-47 and steals (12-10).
The teams combined for 42 turnovers.
Rosemon had 16 rebounds (10 of them on the offensive boards) to go with her game high 20 points while her sophomore teammate and the team's leading scorer Payton Sterk finished with 13 points (4 of 15 field goals attempts), three 3-pointers, three assists and five steals.
UP NEXT: CSUSB hosts San Francisco State at 1 p.m. Saturday in Coussoulis Arena. Follow the Yotes on CCAA network's live streaming or follow the stats live online at csusbathletics.com.
