March 22, 2007

UC San Diego Overcomes Slow Start to Beat GSC

Juster, Hansen Lead Tritons to National Semifinals

      Kearney, Neb. –  The first game of the 2007 NCAA Elite Eight Tournament pitted the UC San Diego Tritons (27-4) versus the Glenville State College (W.V.) Pioneers (33-3). 

       Overcoming a very slow start, 12th-ranked UCSD upset the number two ranked team in the country, 71-61, to win their ninth game in a row.  

      This was a national quarterfinal game of the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championships.  The Elite 8 tournament is being held at the Health and Sports Center at the University of Nebraska – Kearney.

      Glenville, riding a 27-game win streak, came out on strong, going up on the Tritons 20-5 by the 12 minute mark.

      Senior Casey Taylor went 5 of10 from the field and led the the Pioneers with 10 points at the half.  All-American Rachel Redick contributed nine points, while going 4 of 8 from the field.  As a team, Glenville shot a solid 47 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes (15 of 32).

      For most of the first half, UC San Diego struggled offensively and defensively.  Senior All-American  Leora Juster kept her team within striking distance, scoring 16 of her  team’s 31 first half points.

      A turning point came at the end of the half for UCSD as the Pioneer’s foul trouble mounted and the Triton’s capitalized by going 9-12 from the line.

      Thanks to an 13-7 run in the final six minutes, the West Region champs trailed by only a 38-31 count at the break.

      “Once our team our team settled down, we figured we could hang with this team.  It was the tale of two halves,” said UC San Diego Head Coach Jannel Jones.

      The Tritons came out strong in the second half but Glenville hung on to its lead for nearly 10 minutes. Finally, the Tritons gabbed its first lead of the game, 48-47, when Juster hit a jumper with 10:33 remaining.

      Glenville, representing the East Region, would trial the rest of the way as the Pioneers couldn't buy a bucket over the final 20 minutes. GSC ended the second half at 21.4 percent (6 of 28) with reserve post Melanie Oliver having four of her team's six made shots. She ended the game 7 of 9 form the floor; the rest of the team combined to go 16 of 55.

      Redick (team-high 18 points) made only 6 of 18 shots with Taylor (10 points, 8 rebounds) connecting on 5 of 15 field goals.

      Juster, on 10 of 18 shooting, led the Tritons with 26 points.  She also supplied seven rebounds and three assists.  Also for the West Region champions, Hillary Hansen had 15 of her 20 points in the second half. She was only  6 of 15 from the field but 7 of 9 at the line.

       UC San Diego shot 52 percent from the field in the second half and was at 44 percent for the game. They also made 22 of 30 foul shots and held Glenville to 36 percent shooting (23 of 64).

        “My hat’s off to UC San Diego.  We got up 15 at the half, they didn’t fold their tents.  They rallied back,” said Glenville Head Coach Steve Harold.

         Four Pioneers were in double digits, led by Reddick. Oliver was 7 of 9 from the field to have 14 points.

         UC San Diego will advance to the semi-finals on Thursday to face Southern Connecticut State at 7:00 p.m. The game will be aired live by ESPNU.