ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The eighth-seeded Cal State San Marcos women's basketball team (27-6) saw its historic season come to an end on Wednesday in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight Semifinals, falling 70-68 to Minnesota State at St. Joseph Civic Center.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Jordan Vasquez – 16 points | 20 rebounds
Charity Gallegos – 20 points | 5 assists | 4 rebounds
Truitt Reilly – 12 points | 10 rebounds | 2 blocked shots
Mina Tameilau – 12 points | 3 assists

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Truitt Reilly got things started early with a jumper to put CSUSM up 2-0 in the opening 20 seconds.
• The Mavericks answered with a 15-2 run capped by a jumper off a turnover by Natalie Bremer at 4:35 of the first quarter.
• CSUSM answered with a 3-pointer by Ranson at 4:05.
• A 7-0 run capped by a Reilly 3-pointer cut the Maverick lead to 19-18 to end the first quarter.
• An old-fashion 3-point play by Truitt evened the game at 23-all at the 6:57 mark of the second quarter.
• CSUSM trailed 34-30 at the half after shooting 57.1% (12-of-21) to MSU's 37.5% (12-of-32).
• The deciding factor in the first 20 minutes was turnovers as CSUSM committed 15 as the Mavericks converted 14 points.
• Reilly led CSUSM in the first half with eight points while MSU was led by Bremer's 14 points.
• An old-fashion 3-point play by Vasquez made it 41-37 MSU at the 5:49 mark of the third quarter.
• A Gallegos 3-pointer out of the third quarter media timeout cut the gap to 43-42 with 4:29 remaining.
• A Vasquez layup gave CSUSM its first lead since the opening 20 seconds, making it 46-45 at 2:54 mark of the third quarter.
• Gallegos' converted an old-fashion 3-point play to put the Cougars up 49-47 at 2:18 of third quarter.
• CSUSM took its largest lead of the third quarter on a layup by Tameilau to make it 53-49 with 31 seconds remaining.
• The Cougars held a 53-51 lead at the end of the third quarter after only turning the ball over twice in the 10 minutes.
• After trailing for the first part of the fourth quarter, a Vasquez layup evened the game at 58-all with 5:32 remaining.
• A big 3-pointer by Gallegos put CSUSM up 61-58 at 5:10 mark.
• The Mavericks went up 65-64 on a Bremer jumper at 2:35.
• A pair of made free throws by Tameilau gave CSUSM back the lead at 66-65.
• Another Bremer jumper gave MSU the lead at 1:15, making it 67-66.
• Gallegos drew a foul at 46 on the clock, going to the line and making both free throws to make it 68-67.
• MSU's Emily Herzberg made only the front end of her two free throws to even the game at 68-all with 20 seconds remaining.
• A last-second layup by Herzberg gave the Mavericks the 70-68 win.

 
FAST BREAK

• This was CSUSM's first trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight and was its first national semifinals appearance.
• The Cougars shot 45.5% (25-of-55) from the field while holding the Mavericks to 39.4% (26-of-66).
• CSUSM turned over the ball a season-high 27 times to the NCAA Division II leader in forced turnovers.
• The Cougars got 38 points inside the paint to MSU's 28.
• CSUSM got 16 points on second-chance opportunities to the Mavericks' 12.
• The Cougars led for 7:29 of the game, 4:40 of it in the fourth quarter, while the Mavericks were on top for 29:01.
• Vasquez collected her 23rd double-double of the season (16 pts, 20 reb.) and the 49th of her collegiate career.