LOS ANGELES – Cal State LA's women's basketball team clinched a spot in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament in a most impressive fashion.
 
The Golden Eagles, playing short-handed but with a lot heart, knocked off conference-leading UC San Diego, 75-69, Saturday night in University Gym. Cal State LA (13-12, 10-7 CCAA) lost all of a 15-point second-quarter lead, but regrouped with a gritty effort in the second half to send the Tritons (18-5, 14-3 CCAA) to only their third conference defeat.
 
Samantha Lee followed up her career-high 23 points on Thursday in a big win over Cal State San Bernardino with 22 points on Saturday against UC San Diego. She hit 5-of-11 from behind the 3-point arc and knocked down all seven of her free-throws. Rebeccah DiRegolo had her best game of the season with 16 points and five rebounds and Marina LaPuzza had 15 points and six rebounds.
 
Beth Mounier had 24 points to lead UC San Diego, while Dalayna Sampton had 20 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Rikke Fabricius had a tremendous all-around game for the Golden Eagles with 12 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
 
Cal State LA shot 45.3 percent for the game (24-of-53) and hit 7-of-21 from 3-point range. UC San Diego shot just 37.8 percent (28-of-74) and was 7-of-24 from 3-point range. Cal State LA was 20-of-26 from the free-throw line, while UC San Diego was 6-of-9.
 
UC San Diego had a 45-36 rebounding edge and the teams combined for only 10 turnovers in a well-played game, four for the Tritons and six for the Golden Eagles.
 
Cal State LA got a layup from Christine Delapina to tie the game at 16-16 after one quarter. The Golden Eagles then stunned the Tritons by scoring the first 15 points of the second quarter to take a 31-16 lead. Lee hit three free throws and then knocked down a 3-pointer to open the period, Rachael DiRegolo made a layup and LaPuzza hit a 3-pointer to make it 27-16. Rebeccah DiRegolo followed with a jumper and Fabricius hit a layup to complete the run and give the Golden Eagles a 15-point lead.
 
UC San Diego, though, sliced the lead to just two points, 37-35 by halftime and then took a pair of one-point leads, the last one at 43-42 with 6:55 to go in the quarter. The Golden Eagles, though, responded by scoring the next 12 points to take firm control of the game.
 
Rebecca DiRegolo gave the Golden Eagles the lead with a layup, Lee followed with two straight 3-pointers, DiRegolo scored again and LaPuzza made a layup to give the Golden Eagles a 54-43 lead. Cal State LA settled for a 57-50 lead after three periods.
 
Cal State LA opened up a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter after another 3-pointer by Lee and a layup by Fabricius and the lead never dipped below five points the rest of the way.
 
Cal State LA will return to action with a road game at Sonoma State on Friday.