Jacks beat CSUSB 69-66 on Black Out Night
Alexia Thrower’s physicality was unmatched as she accounted for twenty-four points and tied a season-high sixteen rebounds. Humboldt State secured their fifteenth win on the season against the California State University of San Bernardino on Saturday night. HSU got its fourth straight win, and Thrower earned CCAA player of the week honors.
“I think we started as a team pretty slow,” said Thrower. “I was just trying to pick up the energy and get everybody going and just try to play my hardest regardless of the situation.”
The game went back and forth, with CSUSB getting off to a fast start leading by nine in the first. Jovanah Arrington made a big time jump shot to end an early San Bernardino run at the beginning of the first quarter.
“[Alexia Thrower] plays with such a motor in particular when she’s around the basket… Both offensive and defensively she’s going to be on those boards, and she creates problems for our opponents.”
Just as San Bernardino was starting to make a strong push late in the quarter, Thrower drained a three and got the crowd into the game. Gabrielle Carbajal added to the early comeback with a three of her own as CSUSB headed to the second quarter with a five point lead.
The game was extremely physical throughout, with Thrower driving to the basket and drawing hard fouls. She went 10-13 from the free throw line, and shot 50 percent from the field. CSUSB continued to push back whenever HSU would go on a run. Thrower set up a big screen for Arrington late in the second, as she drove to two points.
Thrower’s ability to grab offensive rebounds and give HSU a second opportunity was pivotal. Teammate Isamar Conde showed how much fight was left in the Jacks, grabbing an offensive rebound between two coyotes under the basket. Conde also piled in a nice driving layup in the second as HSU went to the half with a 37-35 lead.
“[Thrower] plays with such a motor in particular when she’s around the basket,” HSU Head Coach Michelle Bento-Jackson said. “Both offensive and defensively she’s going to be on those boards, and she creates problems for our opponents. Those were high energy type moments when she was going up and securing rebounds.”
UCSB took a five point lead to begin the third, but Thrower would continue on the second effort shots. Her ability to draw the foul continued down the stretch. A giant three pointer from Carbajal got the crowd back into it and put HSU up one heading to the fourth.
Costly turnovers from the Coyotes continued into the fourth, led by a Carbajal steal and assist to Thrower. Thrower would end up hitting a crucial shot that put the Jacks up nine and forced the timeout from CSUSB. She continued to make big play after big play in crunch time. The Coyotes tried but could not put it together, falling short by three points in the end.
Thrower’s 24 points were a game-high as she put the team on her back down the stretch. Jovanah Arrington added 15 points and two rebounds, Isamar Conde finished with 13 points four rebounds, Carbajal and Tyra Turner scored six points each and Madeline Hatch had five points and six rebounds.
“We didn’t get into any flow, but I thought Jovanah Arrington was aggressive in the second half and gave us some big buckets,”Bento-Jackson said. “Along with Lexi Thrower, we did enough just to grind out the win.”
An excellent performance by HSU puts them into position to potentially host a playoff game. They play this Thursday in Carson against California State University Dominguez Hills.
“We have an excellent home crowd, they get really into the game,” Thrower said. “So if we get to host a game here that would be pretty awesome.”
