February 10, 2006

Courtesy Cal State L.A. Sports Information Office

Box Score

LOS ANGELES - Monica Tokoro had 22 points and Amber Fouse added 16 points off the bench as Cal State L.A. took a step closer toward its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth with a 70-65 come-from-behind win over crosstown-rival Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday night in the Eagles Nest.

Cal State L.A., ranked fifth in the West Region, improves to 15-5, 9-4 CCAA, while CSUDH, ranked eighth regionally, falls to 12-7, 7-6 CCAA.

CSULA scored the game's opening four points on buckets by Shayna Stanley and Brittany Henderson, but CSUDH answered with a 9-0 run to take a 9-4 lead just 4 1/2 minutes into the game. CSUDH still held the lead at 17-16 before a quick 7-0 CSULA run, including a three-pointer from Jaemy Oda, gave the Golden Eagles a 23-17 advantage with 5:39 left in the period.

CSULA, however, went cold the rest of the half as the visiting Toros outscored the Golden Eagles by a 13-3 margin in that span as Cal State Dominguez Hills took a 30-26 lead into the locker room.

The CSUDH lead reached double figures at 48-38 on a Brittney Blankenship layup with 13:06 to go in the game. The Toros still led by 10 points at 58-48 with 6:48 to go when Cal State L.A. made their move. The Golden Eagles got three-pointers by Tokoro and Fouse to cut the gap to four points and the comeback was complete when Tokoro hit a jumper with 1:47 left to knot the game at 64-64.

Blankenship hit 1-of-2 free throws to give CSUDH a 65-64 lead, but Stanley hit a jumper with 40 seconds left to give CSULA a 66-65 lead, the first time the Golden Eagles had been on top since late in the first half. CSULA forced a Blankenship turnover at the CSUDH offensive end,, but Oda missed the front end of the one-and-one. However, Monique Diaz came up with the ball and dished to Fouse, who was fouled. Fouse hit both free throws to give CSULA a three-point lead. The Toros were unable to answer on their offensive possession and two Oda free throws with a second left iced the win.

Tokoro led all scorers with 22 points, hitting 10-of-16 from the floor. Fouse added 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting off the bench while Tiffaney Maddox had 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

CSUDH was paced by Tameka Blue with 20 points along with Alana Bailey's nine rebounds. As a team, CSUDH outshot CSULA by a 45-37 percent margin, but Cal State L.A. forced 21 CSUDH turnovers to earn the victory.

The Toros travel to Bakersfield Saturday night to take on the Roadrunners.