Long-distance win
| Saturday, Nov 21 2009 11:25 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Nov 21 2009 11:25 PM
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Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Hawaii's #21 Katie Wilson, regains control of the ball after a near steal by C.S.U.B's # 12 Tiffany Belt in their game Saturday.
CSUB's Katie Williams (22), seen in action against Hawaii earlier this season, had a strong weekend at the Courtyard by Marriott Beach Holiday Classic. Williams scored 19 points in the Roadrunners' 89-80 loss to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Sunday. Williams was named to the All-Tournament team.
With the prospect of its first 0-3 start in school history, the Cal State Bakersfield women's basketball team left little to chance Saturday night.
The Roadrunners scored early and often, pouring in a school-record 15 3-pointers en route to an impressive 105-75 victory over Hawaii at the Icardo Center.
"We're very capable of scoring a lot of points," said CSUB coach Tim La Kose, whose team is averaging 91.3 point per game. "You look at our group and they can all score 20 or 30 (points) on any given night."
Senior Tiffany Belt was the most prolific 'Runner from long range, nailing six from beyond the arc, including four in a row during a wild 61-second stretch that finished with a 74-47 lead with 13:05 to play.
"Coach told me to focus on defense first so I came into the game and made sure I put pressure on the ball and helped my team out on defense first and then my offense will come," said Belt, who made 6-of-10 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 19 points. "When I got that open shot I didn't just want to shoot it, I wanted to knock it down. That's what I was thinking and it just happened to go for me tonight."
Three was obviously the magic number for CSUB (1-2).
The Roadrunners were 15-for-28 from 3-point range, hitting percentage points better then they did on 2-point field goals, 53.6 percent to 53.3. CSUB also completed two traditional three-point plays and Phynique Allen sank three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point try.
"Tonight we shot the ball well," La Kose said. "Tiffany found her shot tonight and everybody was taking good shots and knocking them down. And we were able to get to the foul line and shot a pretty clip there too. I think that was the difference in the game."
The 'Runners first two shots of the game were 3-pointers and after Belt hit her second shot from the deep wing, CSUB moved ahead 25-12 with 12:30 left in the first half.
"It felt good," Belt said. "It felt kind of easy. They kept leaving me open after a knocked down a couple so, hey, they keep giving it to me, I'll take it."
The lead climbed to 21 points on a 3-pointer by freshman Amber Williams one of three on the night that made is 40-19 with 8:20 left in the opening half before the Rainbow Wahine (1-2) closed the ap to 48-37 with an 18-8 run over the next six minutes. Williams finished with 17 points, four assists and four steals.
But two free throws by Kelley Tarver and another 3 by Williams built the lead back to 53-37 at the half.
Katie Williams did much of the scoring for the Roadrunners in the first half, pumping in 21 points. She finished with a game-high 27 on 8-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-6 from downtown. She also had a team-high eight rebounds and five steals.
"The good thing is were taking pretty good care of the ball," La Kose said. "That's been a key to our success. We're trying to force the turnovers defensively and then offensively take good care of the ball. We were plus-14 (turnover advantage) tonight and that's a big stat."
