AZUSA, Calif. – The No. 24 and second-seeded Cal State San Marcos women's basketball team (25-6) advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Division II West Regional for the second consecutive year with a 62-56 win over No. 16 and third-seeded Western Washington (24-7) in the semifinals on Saturday at the Felix Event Center on the campus of Azusa Pacific University.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Ava Ranson – 23 points | 8-of-17 FG | 4 rebounds
Charity Gallegos – 12 points | 6 assists
Jordan Vasquez – 10 points | 5 rebounds
Mina Tameilau – 9 points | 9 rebounds
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• CSUSM led 12-9 after the first quarter of play, shooting 31.3% (5-of-16) to WWU's 30.8% (4-of-13).
• The Viking knotted the game at 12-12 on the first possession of the second half with a 3-pointer by Riley Dykstra.
• WWU took its largest lead of the first half at 18-14 on a good jumper by Aspen Garrison with 7:35 left in the second quarter.
• A layup by Mastora with 3:52 remaining in the second period tied the game at 20-all.
• A 3-pointer by Ranson with 58 ticks remaining in the half gave CSUSM the lead at 26-23.
• The Cougars held a 26-25 lead at halftime after shooting 35.7% (5-of-14) from the field while the Vikings shot slightly better at 38.9% (7-of-18).
• CSUSM and WWU ended the third quarter tied at 44-all. The Cougars shot 61.5% (8-of-13) while the Vikings came in at 43.8% (7-of-16).
• The Cougars went on a 12-2 run to take a 58-47 lead that was capped off with a Gallegos 3-pointer at the 4:39 mark of the fourth quarter.
• WWU cut CSUSM's lead to five points (58-53) with 1:16 remaining.
• Gallegos and Ranson both went 2-for-2 from the free throw line in the final 1:08 to secure the victory at 62-56.
• CSUSM led the entire fourth quarter, outscoring the Vikings 18-12.

 
FAST BREAKS

• CSUSM ended the game shooting 37.3% (22-of-59) while WWU finished at 33.3% (21-of-63).
• Ava Ranson tallied a career-high 23 points and led CSUSM for the first time this season.
• CSUSM was outrebounded 46-39 with WWU tallying 16 offensive boards to the Cougars' 11.
• The Cougars tallied 18 points off fast breaks to WWU's four.
• CSUSM led for 23:13 of the game while the Vikings were up 10:59.
• The Cougars got 32 of their points in the paint.
• With six assists tonight, Charity Gallegos has tallied 13 in the last two games. 
• Tallying nine points against WWU, Mina Tameilau is three points away from reaching 1,000 career points. 

UP NEXT
CSUSM will face fourth-seeded Montana State Billings in the NCAA West Regional Championship Game at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 18 in the Felix Event Center on the campus of Azusa Pacific.