LOS ANGELES – Cal State LA's women's basketball team earned a milestone victory for its famous new head coach and the Golden Eagles made it a memorable one.
The Golden Eagles raced out to a 33-9 lead after one quarter and then kind of sputtered its way to a 70-62 win over Cal State Monterey Bay for head coach Cheryl Miller's 100th win as a collegiate head coach. Miller, in her first season at Cal State LA, won 42 games in two seasons as USC's head coach in the 1990s and added 48 wins in two seasons at Langston University, an NAIA program in Oklahoma.
Cal State LA (10-10, 7-5 CCAA) evened its overall record and picked up an important win as the battle for eight CCAA Championship Tournament spots intensifies. The Golden Eagles remained in sixth place in the conference, just 1 ½ games out of second.
The game tightened up considerably after the first quarter and Cal State Monterey Bay pulled to within four points in the final minute before the Golden Eagles hit some clutch free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
Rikke Fabricius had a big game for the Golden Eagles with a season-high 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead three Cal State LA players in double figures. Da'Jah Jackson had 17 points and six rebounds and Christine Delapina had 15 points, six rebounds and three assists.
McKenna Hill had 20 points to lead Cal State Monterey Bay (4-14, 1-10 CCAA), while Christine Golfo had 11 points.
Mackenzie Barnes had four points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Golden Eagles.
Cal State LA shot 37 percent for the game (17-of-46) and cooled off considerably after a sizzling start. The Golden Eagles were just 3-of-16 from 3-point range, but made 33-of-48 free-throw attempts. Cal State Monterey Bay shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57) and was just 2-of-12 from 3-point range. The Otters made 12-of-20 from the free-throw line.
Cal State LA had a 42-33 rebounding edge and committed 21 turnovers to 16 for the Otters.
The Golden Eagles came flying out of the gates and had their best quarter of the season. Cal State LA was 10-of-15 from the floor in the first period, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range. Fabricius had 14 points in the first quarter alone and the Golden Eagles were 11-of-13 from the free-throw line with Fabricius making all five of her attempts.
Cal State LA led 33-9 after the first quarter, but struggled offensively after that. The Golden Eagles made just seven baskets over the final three quarters and Cal State Monterey Bay managed to fight back to within seven points, 58-51, with 3:22 to go and got to within four points, 62-58, with 44 seconds left. Jackson stopped the run with a free throw and Fabricius, after grabbing the rebound of Jackson's second attempt, was fouled and made two free throws to give Cal State LA a 65-58 lead. The Golden Eagles added five free throws in the final 40 seconds to put the game away.
Cal State LA will play its next three games on the road, beginning with a game at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday in Carson.
