Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Cal State Dominguez Hills Athletics

Upcoming Events & Results

Composite Calendar
FloSports
2008-09 Womens Basketball CCAA Champs

Women's Basketball

It's Official, Toros Crowned 2008-09 CCAA Tournament Champions With 74-69 Win vs Humboldt State


San Bernardino, CA -- In a wire-to-wire game which came down to the last five minutes of play, the Cal State Dominguez Hills women's basketball team edged out a 74-69 win over Humboldt State to claim the 2008-09 CCAA Championship for the third time in the program's history, earning the automatic qualifier to next week's NCAA West Region Tournament.

With the 'Jacks grabbing the game's first points, the Toros were forced to play constant catchup as they quickly saw their deficit build to seven at 11-4 just six minutes into the first period.

With scoring stagnant on both sides of the court, the Toros went on a four-point run, finished by two freebies from Neka Mixon to get them to 11-8 before Humboldt's Taylor Kilgore gave the 'Jacks their first double-digit lead off a three at 20-9 with eight minutes left in the half.

CSUDH came to within one point at 23-22 as they slowed down their offense and started to shoot from beyond the arc, the one-point deficit courtesy of a Kayla Montalvo three. A Barbara Houston jump-shot at the buzzer continued CSUDH's momentum as the Toros entered the break down 33-30.

The Toros displayed a suffocating perimeter defense after the break as they stopped Humboldt's attacks from beyond the arc, limiting the 'Jacks to 2-for-10 shooting compared to 6-for-14 in the first from three point land.

"One of the factors in the win was in the second half we did a much better job of guarding the three, that was the key", head coach Van Girard reflects on. "In the second half we had much more defensive presence and kept in contact which made it anybody's ballgame."

CSUDH's resiliency for all 40 minutes made all the difference as the Toros outscored Humboldt 10-3 in the final five minutes of play.  CSUDH grabbed its first lead of the game with 3:21 left following a Mixon layup in the paint.

The Toros held their lead the rest of the game with six additional points, the clinching shot coming from Aujanee Baldwin, who was fed the ball from Brittney Blankenship following a steal.

Fittingly, Tournament MVP Mixon ended scoring for the Toros with two additional freebies and secure the win for the title at 74-69.

Leading on the night was Mixon with 22 points and seven boards to mark the tenth time this season she has scored at least 20 points a game. Blankenship scored 18, a new game-high for her, and was two away from her first 20-point game of the season.  A 5-year senior, Blankenship now stands at 956 career points, making the elite mark of 1,000 a possibility.

Overall, CSUDH shot for 36.2% from the floor while Humboldt went 40.0%, with the Toros also grabbing 36 rebounds compared to 30 for HSU.

Now with an overall record of 21-9, the 2008-09 Toros are the second-winningest squad in CSUDH history.  Clinching a berth in the NCAA postseason with the CCAA Title in hand, the Toros will take to the road with the regional most likely being held at Seattle Pacific University.

Looking to the tournament, Girard is now in gear to prepare his team, "It is another three-day tourney for us, we need to reset our goals and find out what it is we want to do and what we want to accomplish with this opportunity."

Log on to the NCAA's Selection Show here to follow all the seeds, locations and opponents as well as to www.GoToros.com for more updates.

2009 CCAA All-Tournament Team
Brittney Blakenship (Cal State Dominguez Hills)
Katie Franci (Humboldt State)
Ennisha Kyles (Cal State Dominguez Hills)
Neka Mixon (Cal State Dominguez Hills)
Brittney Taylor (Humboldt State)

Most Valuable Player: Neka Mixon (Cal State Dominguez Hills)
Print Friendly Version