BOX SCORE CARSON, Calif. -- The Sonoma State women's basketball team went on a pair of large runs in the first quarter, sprinting out to a 21-7 lead in the first 10 minutes of play, but the Seawolves turned the ball over 15 times in the second half, opening the door for host Cal State Dominguez Hills to sneak by for the 60-53 win Saturday night at the Torodome in Carson.
Sonoma falls to 6-9 overall and 3-8 in conference play. The Toros improved to 9-8 (7-5 CCAA).
Neither team could score a bucket until the 7:51 mark of the opening period when
Madison Burroughs broke the scoreless tie with a layup. It kickstarted a 13-2 run for SSU over the next four minutes before CSUDH answered with five unanswered points of their own to cut the Sonoma lead to six at 13-7. The Seawolves then went on an 8-0 run stretching into the opening seconds of the second quarter to take what would be their largest lead of the contest, a margin of 14 points (or two touchdowns) for a 21-7 advantage.
However, the hosts responded to score 20 of the game's next 25 points over the next 10+ minutes to take their first lead of the game, a 27-26 lead a minute into the second half. From then on, both teams went back and forth until a
Jessica Mitz three-pointer with under five minutes to play in regulation knotted the game at 45-45. CSUDH took the lead for good on a Zhane Carter jumper on the Toros' next possession, then tacked on points from the free throw line to pull away for the win. Carter led all scorers on the night with 22 points, 15 coming from beyond the arc.
In total, Sonoma had 24 turnovers which turned into 27 points for Cal State Dominguez Hills whereas the Seawolves only managed to score 16 points off of 21 Toro miscues. SSU shot 33.3 percent from the floor (21-63) -- just 2 of 12 from three-point range (16.7 percent) -- while CSUDH hit on 40.4 percent of its shots (21-52) with six made three-pointers.
Mitz dropped in a season-high 16 points in the loss as Burroughs chipped in with 13 points, seven rebounds and six steals.
Ugochi Anudokem netted 11 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
Sonoma State will return home for a brief two-game homestand Friday when it hosts Cal State Monterey Bay at 5:30 pm in The Wolves' Den.
