SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos women's basketball team (3-14, 3-8 CCAA) will wrap up a four-game road trip this week, traveling to Cal State LA (12-5, 7-5 CCAA) on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and No. 3 Cal State Dominguez Hills (20-0, 12-0 CCAA) on Saturday at 1 p.m.  

LAST TIME OUT

• The Cougars went 2-0 last weekend on the road, extending their win streak to three. 
• Last Thursday, CSUSM pulled off a 65-61 overtime victory at Cal State Monterey Bay.  
• The Cougars notched their third consecutive win on Saturday with a 69-52 win at Stanislaus State. 
• Rory Hetrick notched back-to-back double-doubles, averaging 14 points and 10 rebounds last week. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• With the three wins, CSUSM moved into 10th place in the CCAA standings, 2.5 games back from sixth place Cal State San Bernardino. 
• The Cougars are No. 3 in the CCAA with 14.0 offensive rebounds per game. 
• CSUSM is averaging 3.2 blocks per game, ranking third in the conference. 
• Averaging 6.8 3-pointers per game, the Cougars rank third in the CCAA.
• Destiny Okonkwo ranks third in the CCAA with 8.1 rebounds per game and 1.29 blocked shots per game.
• Tatum Tamashiro is averaging 1.82 3-pointers per game, ranking her fourth in the CCAA. 

THURSDAY AT CSULA

• The Golden Eagles snapped a five-game win streak on Saturday with a 76-62 loss at Chico State. 
• CSULA sits fifth in the CCAA standings, a half-game back from fourth-place Sonoma State. 
• The Golden Eagles rank first in the CCAA and fourth in NCAA Division II with 5.8 blocked shots per game. 
• Four Golden Eagles rank in the top 10 in the CCAA with Amaya Fuentes leading the way at 1.18 per game (5th), followed by Mary Cotton's 1.06 (6th), Lily Buggs' 1.00 (7th) and Olivia Hodges' 0.88 (9th). 
• CSULA boasts a CCAA-high 43.24 rebounds per game, ranking 12th in the nation. 
• The Golden Eagles are holding their opponents to a conference-best 34.8 field-goal percentage. 
• Hodges is the CCAA leader in rebounds (184), rebounds per game (10.8), defensive rebounds per game (6.6) and offensive rebounds per game (4.2). 
• Fuentes is averaging 2.0 3-pointers per game and 32.7 3-point field-goal percentage, both ranking second in the CCAA. 
• CSUSM leads the all-time series at 13-7 over the Golden Eagles and is 4-5 when playing in LA. 
• CSULA was picked to finish first in the 2024-25 CCAA Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll. 

SATURDAY MATINEE IN CARSON

• Prior to Saturday's game, CSUDH will host Sonoma State for the final time in program history on Thursday. 
• The Toros earned their 20th consecutive victory with a 93-59 victory at Cal Poly Humboldt, setting a program single-season record. 
• CSUDH is the only NCAA Division II program to remain undefeated this season. 
• Twelve of CSUDH's 20 games were decided by 20 or more points this season. 
• The Toros have only had three games decided by single digits this season, a 74-71 win over Point Loma (Nov. 13), a 65-61 victory at then-No. 17 Cal Poly Pomona (Jan. 2) and a 78-69 win at Chico State (Jan. 23). 
• CSUDH has a one-game lead over second-place CPP entering the week. 
• The Toros are third in Division II in turnover margin at 12.20 and fourth in turnovers forced per game at 27.8. 
• In addition to those two categories, CSUDH leads the CCAA in other statistical categories, including scoring offensive (79.6), scoring defense (53.8), offensive rebounds per game (16.8) and steals per game (16.7). 
• Three-time CCAA Player of the Week Nala Williams ranks second in Division II with 4.40 steals per game while averaging 16.7 points per game. 
• Asia Jordan is second on the team with 13.8 points per game while tallying the third-highest field goal percentage at 57.0 in the conference. 
• CSUSM is 8-13 in the all-time series against CSUDH and is 2-7 when playing in Torodome. 
• The Toros were picked to finish third in the 2024-25 CCAA Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll. 

  
2024-25 OUTLOOK

• First-year head coach Jana Pearson takes over the reins of the CSUSM women's basketball program following a three-year stint as an assistant at Westmont. 
• The Cougars return six from last season's roster, including Kaitlyn Beall, Camille Johnson, Maddie Leiva, Rose Morse, Jade Ramirez and Tatum Tamashiro. 
• CSUSM has seven newcomers for 2024-25, including transfers Kate Bobadilla, Rory Hetrick, Lucca Lowenberg, Destiny Okonkwo, Lyric Richardson and Kacie Slover while welcoming true freshman Maria Grobushin. 
• The Cougars' 30-game slate includes two exhibition games, one at San Diego State and one at home against UC Riverside to go along with 12 home games and 16 road games in the regular season.
• CSUSM will host the CCAA Championships for the second time in program history. In 2016, the Cougars welcomed both the men's and women's conference tournaments in The Sports Center despite not being able to compete due to competing in their final year of the NCAA Division II transition. 

THE PEARSON FILE

• Jana Pearson became CSUSM's fourth coach in program history on June 20, 2024. 
• Pearson's first win at CSUSM came on Jan. 18 with a 70-60 victory over Cal Poly Humboldt in The Sports Center. 
• Pearson came to CSUSM from Westmont where she was the Warriors' assistant coach beginning in July 2021. 
• Prior to Westmont, Pearson was the assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado from July 2018 through June 2021. Pearson served as the post player coach that included the 2020-21 Big Sky Conference Player of the Year. 
• In four seasons at Vanguard, Pearson served as acting head coach in 40 games and helped the Lions to a 101-25 record with four NAIA National Tournament appearances that culminated in two Sweet 16s and one Final Four.
• Pearson worked at Freed-Hardeman University in Tennessee in her first full-time assistant coaching position from August 2010 to June 2014.
• In her 14 years as an assistant coach, Pearson diligently recruited and coached four national players of the year, 18 All-Americans and over 80 scholar-athletes.
• Pearson earned her bachelor's degree in Mathematics in December of 2007 from Harding University, where she was a member of the Harding women's basketball team for four years. While serving as a graduate assistant, Pearson graduated with a Master of Science degree in Counseling in 2010.