Box Score LOS ANGELES – Another CCAA women's basketball game. Another nail-biter finish. Another Cal State San Bernardino victory.
            
The Yotes, down by six points with 1:43 remaining in Sunday's game at Cal State L.A., outscored the host 7-0 in crunch time to win their conference encounter 73-72, helped by Destiny Jackson's two free throws with six seconds left.
            
However, a Yotes foul gave the Golden Eagles another chance to tie or win before time expired, but Nicole Flennaugh, a 91-percent free throw shooter this season, missed both her attempts with two seconds left and the Yotes' Mia Dufresne grabbed her team-high 12th rebound as time expired.
            
The victory by CSUSB snapped a six-game losing streak to the Golden Eagles, who had won eight of the last 10 meetings between the two teams. The Yotes last win over L.A. was Jan. 17, 2018. CSUSB leads the all-time series between the two teams 36-27, dating back to their first meeting on Jan. 27, 1987.

The Yotes went 2-0 on the road trip after beating Cal State Dominguez Hills, 87-81 in overtime, improving their season record to 6-6 and now have a 4-3 record in the CCAA, good enough to tie Sonoma State for fifth place in the conference standings.
It was the first time since Jan. 26-27, 2018, that the Yotes have won back-to-back CCAA games on the road.

CSUSB will be home this coming week against CCAA leader Cal State San Marcos (6-1 CCAA, 9-3 overall) on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. followed by a 1 p.m. game with Sonoma State (4-3 CCAA, 9-5 overall) on Saturday.

Jackson, in her second game back from an injury suffered on Dec. 9, led the Yotes with 18 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Jaida Jackson scored 15 points, including a trio of three-pointers, after putting up 19 points in the win over the Toros. Samantha Henley (14 points) hit four from the arc including a big three that put the Yotes just one behind at 72-71 with 12 seconds left in the game.

Freshman Jaushlynn Ruffin, who scored 14 points and snagged 11 rebounds in the win over the Toros on Thursday, contributed eight more rebounds against L.A. to go with seven points. Auren Isaacson came up with nine points, including seven of the team's 11 first-period points. Oliva Lee had seven points, seven rebounds and a blocked shot.

Six-foot forward-center Mia Dufresne only scored one point, but she was effective on defense with her 12 rebounds, two steals and three blocked shots in addition to assisting on three Yotes baskets.
 
Alicia Jones led the Golden Eagles (5-7 overall, 2-5 CCAA), with 16 points, four rebounds and three assists. Lily Buggs scored 15 points with three baskets from beyond the arc to go with seven rebounds and three steals. Flennaugh finished with 11 points that included three treys, six assists and four steals but was 0-for-4 from the foul line.

Donja Payne contributed 10 points, a game-high 14 rebounds and three blocks in 23 minutes of play.

The Yotes made 26 of 66 field goal tries (39 percent) while L.A. hit 37 percent (24 of 64). Both teams had 42 rebounds. CSUSB made 12 of its 14 free throws (85 percent) while L.A. made just 15 of 27 foul shots (55 percent).  

The game was a series of short-lived runs by both teams. The score was tied nine times and there were 12 lead changes. 

The hosts led in points off turnovers 22-16 while the Yotes led in points scored in the paint, 32-28. The Yotes were whistled for 21 fouls to just 11 for the Golden Eagles.

In the first half alone, L.A. had 16 free throw attempts to just three for the Yotes.

The Yotes had a brief 11-9 lead in the first period before free throws by Buggs and Payne and a bucket by Flennaugh put L.A. 14-11 at the buzzer.
Leading 16-13 early in period two, the Golden Eagles took a nine-point lead on a pair of free throws by Jones. A jumper by Jones and a Buggs free throw gave CSLA its biggest lead at 32-20 with 3:22 left before intermission. 

The Yotes outscored the hosts 10-4 to close out the half trailing 36-30 on free throws by Destiny Jackson and Lee.

Trailing 39-30, the Yotes rallied behind Henley (two three-pointers), a layup and free throw by Ruffin and a three-pointer by Jaida Jackson to take a 42-39 lead. Citali Salazar's two free throws made it 44-39 Yotes with 6:46 left in the period.

L.A. tied the game at 44-all on a Jones three pointer and a layup by Buggs. The lead was tied four times before the end of the period, which ended in a 53-53 tie on a layup by Destiny Jackson with 23 seconds left, after a steal by Ruffin.

The game remained hard-fought through the final period with the teams tied at 58-all and 64-all before Destiny Jackson gave the Yotes a 66-65 lead with 3:21 remaining in the game.  L.A. ran off seven straight points on a three -pointer by Gabriella Rones, a Jones layup and a Payne jumper after she rebounded a missed free throw to make it 72-66 with 1:43 left.

Nine seconds later Jaida Jackson sank two free throws, Henley followed with a three-pointer at the one-minute mark to make it 72-71 L.A., setting the stage for Jackson to make a pair of free throws with six seconds left to win the game.
 
UP NEXT: CSUSB hosts Cal State San Marcos at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, in Coussoulis Arena. The Yotes host Sonoma State at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, at 1 p.m. Follow the Yotes via live streaming on the CCAA network or view the live stats at csusbathletics.com.