SAN BERNARDINO, Calif-  Despite leading nearly the entire game, Sonoma State was nipped at the end by UC San Diego 57-55 on Friday afternoon at the CCAA Basketball Tournament in San Bernardino.  The Seawolves go to 20-9 on the season while the Tritons advance to Saturday's Tournament Championship Game. 

The Seawolves will now await word from the NCAA Regional committee on whether their season will continue in next week's NCAA Regional Tournament.  SSU was ranked sixth in the west in the latest regional rankings with the top eight teams getting a bid.  An interesting scenario could take place if Cal Poly Pomona wins the CCAA Tournament and grabs the CCAA's automatic bid because that would push one of this week's top eight teams out.  The Broncos, at 12-15 overall, were not included in the rankings.  The selections will be announced on Sunday evening.

Friday's loss to the Tritons was particularly frustrating because the Seawolves led for almost the entire game.  In the first half, the Seawolves led by nine at 22-13 before being outscored 12-4 for the final six minutes to give them a one-point lead at the break.

UCSD kept the Seawolves within their sights and took their first lead of the second half at 42-40 the 12:07 mark when Meaghan Noud's three-pointer capped a 9-0 run.  SSU quickly regained momentum and went on a 12-3 run of their own to go back up by seven, 52-45, with eight and a half minutes to go.

Unfortunately, SSU would make only one field goal the rest of the way as the Tritons closed the game on a 12-3 kick to nip the Seawolves by a bucket.  The Seawolves had a chance to tie the game, or win it with a three, in the final seconds, but three-point attempts by Chelsey Armacost and Genny Anderson rimmed out.

Anderson, the Seawolves' leading scorer entering the game, was battling the flu and finished with just six points.  It was, however, enough to push her past the 1,000-point mark for her career as she becomes just the fourth player in SSU history to accomplish the feat.

Danae Wellander led the Seawolves with 21 points and eight rebounds.  She was 8-of-20 from the field and also added three more assists to her impressive season tally.  Armacost also shouldered some of the offensive load in Anderson's absence, pouring in 16 points and hitting four three-pointers in the second half. 

Michelle Osier had 12 points and 11 rebounds to lead UC San Diego.  Meaghan Noud had 19 points and Erin Noonan pitched in with 13.

The Tritons will face the Chico State/Cal Poly Pomona winner in tomorrow evening's final.

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