SAN BERNARDINO -- Cal State LA's women's basketball responded to a strong push from California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament host Cal State San Bernardino and pulled away for a strong opening-round win Thursday in Coussoulis Arena.

The No. 4 seed Golden Eagles (17-11) saw their lead sliced to two points midway through the fourth quarter after a series of turnovers, but they were able to right the ship and went on to record a 78-64 win. After the No. 5 seed Coyotes closed to within 59-57 with six minutes to go, the Golden Eagles scored the next seven points to restore order.  

Nicole Flennaugh led five Golden Eagles in double figures with 18 points, while Alicia Jones and Lily Buggs both added 14 points. Buggs, after some early foul trouble, finished with a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double.

Destiny Jackson had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Coyotes (14-14). 

Olivia Hodges had a strong game as well for the Golden Eagles, contributing 11 points and eight rebounds, while Gabriella Rones had nine points and Nevaeh Asiasi had seven points.

Cal State LA advances to the conference semifinals for the third straight year, where the Golden Eagles will face No. 1 seed Cal State San Marcos on Friday at 2:30 p.m.

Cal State LA shot 46 percent for the game (29-of-63) and was 6-of-16 from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles made 6-of-9 from the floor and were 14-of-24 from the free-throw line, including 8-of-12 in the fourth quarter. Cal State San Bernardino shot 37.5 percent (24-of-64) for the game and was 6-of-20 from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles held the Coyotes to just 3-of-14 shooting in the fourth period. 

Cal State LA enjoyed a 49-32 rebounding edge and committed 18 turnovers to 14 for the Coyotes.

Flennaugh got the Golden Eagles off to a strong start with a pair of early 3-pointers and Cal State LA built a 24-15 lead after a layup by Asiasi and settled for a 24-17 advantage after one period.

A layup by Asiasi, a steal and three-point play from Asiasi gave the Golden Eagles their biggest first-half lead at 34-21, but the Coyotes used an 11-3 run to cut the margin to 37-32 by halftime.

Cal State LA held leads between four points and nine points in an evenly-played third quarter and took a 57-52 lead into the final period.

After Hodges scored to open the fourth period to make it 59-52, the Coyotes made their strongest surge of the game to get to within 59-57 with six minutes left.

Buggs stopped the run with a big 3-pointer and the Golden Eagles added a pair of free throws by Jones and a layup by Buggs to stretch the lead back to 66-57 with 3:47 left. The Golden Eagles led by at least seven points the rest of the way.

Cal State LA and Cal State San Marcos will be meeting for the third time this season with each team winning on its homecourt during the regular season.









.