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Tritons Break Toros Heart on Last-Second Bucket, Ending CSUDH's Season at 21-10


Seattle, WA -- Cal State Dominguez Hills looked to be on the verge of besting UC San Diego for the first time this year after taking a 65-64 lead with just seconds remaining, but a spinning 8-foot jumper by UCSD's Annette Ilg as the horn sounded hit nothing but net to give the Tritons a thrilling 66-65 win in game one of the NCAA West Region playoffs, ending CSUDH's season at 21-10.  Senior Ennisha Kyles led the Toros with 17 points and 9 boards.

"The kids played their hearts out and we had a chance at the end of the ballgame, and that's all you can really hope for," said head coach Van Girard about the heart-breaker.  "We lost to a very good basketball team, and they beat a very good basketball team."

The Toros started strong at the start, building their lead to as much as five points on four separate occasions, the last on a pair of Neka Mixon free throws, before the Tritons chipped away, eventually taking the lead at 25-23 on a Chelsea Carlisle bucket with 5:44 left in the first half, pushing the advantage to six on two Alexis Gaskin foul shots.

UCSD looked to go ahead by double-figures after its lead grew to 9 points with 15 ticks left, before a Kayla Montalvo mid-range jumper brought the Toros to within 36-29 entering the half.

CSUDH continued that momentum after the break after a Montalvo triple brought the Toros to within 40-38 with 16:11 left in regulation, tying the contest on a Whitney Gantt bucket one possession later.

The two teams exchanged the lead six times over the next seven minutes until two Kyles freebies again knotted the game at 51-51 with 7:10 left.  The Tritons, however, regained the lead on two more free throws, a stat in which UCSD thrived in the second half, seeing their lead reach 64-57 with 2:44 left.

The Toros had one final push in them as an Ashley Johnson jumper and 3-pointers by Kyles at 1:41 and by Gantt at 0:57 gave CSUDH a 65-64 lead, and ultimate possession with 42 seconds left after rebounding an errant Triton three.

With the shot clock winding down, Mixon misfired on a running jumper, setting the stage for the Tritons' miraculous finish.

Mixon finished an accolade-filled campaign with 14 points and 9 boards, while Montalvo contributed 8 points, including two 3-pointers, while UCSD boasted four in double-figure scoring, led by Carlisle's 17 points.

The big discrepancy came at the foul line, where the Tritons converted 24-of-33 for the game compared to the Toros' 10-of-13, including a decisive 14-for-20 in the second half, opposed to CSUDH's 2-of-3 makes.

"We settled down in the second half and did a better job of attacking them and defending them, but it took a great shot for them to win, and you win like that at times, and you lose like that at times," continued Girard.

Reflecting on the season, the head coach says, "We had a group of seniors who really rose to the challenge that I put on them.  They were a pretty positive group and they really did the things we wanted them to do.  And the thing I'll remember about this group is that they never gave up and they always kept fighting.

"We lost four players this year, but from our rotation of eight or nine, we have four or five returning players who either started or played significant minutes.  We have to add players of course, but with Neka as a starting point, that's a great place to start," Girard ends with a smile.
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