Magic runs out for CSUB women in fourth quarter against UC Santa Barbara

Mar. 10—HENDERSON, Nev. — After reaching its lowest point of the Big West Conference tournament, Cal State Bakersfield strung together one of its biggest runs of the season when it mattered most.

Immediately after, however, UC Santa Barbara responded in kind.

The Gauchos countered a 13-2 Roadrunner rally to open the second half with a decisive 18-4 stretch of their own, featuring three hard-fought layups from Alexis Whitfield — her only six points of the game — and culminating in an Alexis Tucker 3-pointer that rattled in to effectively end CSUB's hopes.

Tucker's 19 first-half points had led UCSB to an 11-point halftime lead, and after all the second-half intrigue, the Gauchos knocked the Roadrunners out by nearly the same margin, advancing to the Big West finals with a 75-66 victory.

"I can't say enough about (CSUB coach Greg McCall) and the staff and those young women," UCSB coach Bonnie Henrickson said, "who held on at 3-and-something in conference play, to come here and make a run like they did and give us all we could handle today. That speaks to their character, his ability, that's hard to do."

After Tucker drained a deep pull-up jumper at the shot-clock buzzer, contested by Taylor Caldwell, in the final seconds of the first half, the Gauchos went up 36-25 at the break. But Hennie van Schaik went hard into the paint for a three-point play and Caldwell scored thrice as the Roadrunners tied the game at 38-38. Alyssa Marin drained a 3-pointer to halt the momentum, but Caldwell and van Schaik led CSUB to another tie at 44-44.

However, van Schaik suffered her fourth foul almost immediately afterward and missed a chunk of the fourth quarter, during which UCSB went on its long run.

"Even when we got the stops we needed," McCall said, "the ball just kept bouncing their way."

Van Schaik was one of a slew of Roadrunners in foul trouble, as CSUB committed 12 fouls to UCSB's three in the first half and finished the game with seven players committing at least four fouls. Caldwell was the only starter to play more than 28 minutes. Tucker said after the game that the Gauchos make a point of talking during timeouts about which opposing players are accumulating fouls.

Nevertheless, van Schaik posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, playing against the Gauchos for the first time this season after missing both prior matchups due to injury.

"I said to the staff, 'It's odd to be playing in March, and playing against someone who's a critical part, and we haven't played against you yet,'" Henrickson said.

Caldwell led CSUB with 15 points, adding nine rebounds and Grace Hunter bounced back from a string of rough games to score 12 more points. She previously recorded her season high of 22 in Santa Barbara in January.

After eight early points from Tucker put the Roadrunners down 16-6 in the first quarter, Hunter helped bring them back with a string of three pull-up jumpers, preventing the deficit from getting out of hand.

There would be no such remedy for CSUB in the fourth quarter, when Whitfield boosted the Gauchos' lead back to double digits and Callie Cooper and Tucker added 3s. Hunter scored twice, took a late charge and van Schaik converted a string of free throws to get the Roadrunners as close as 66-59, but UCSB closed out the win.

CSUB finished the year 8-23 overall.

In the postgame press conference, McCall got vulnerable. He discussed feeling "the lowest I've ever felt in my whole entire career" during the Roadrunners' 3-17 conference campaign, even wondering about his job status, and turning to a slew of mentors who told him, ultimately, to listen to his players.

He highlighted several of those players: Caldwell returned to CSUB and helped set an example for local recruiting in the future, van Schaik became a go-to option in her sophomore year and Sophia Tougas battled with rheumatoid arthritis, with which she had previously been diagnosed prior to redshirting last season.

"To be able to make this run like we did," Tougas said, "it made all the infusions, all the medication changes, it made everything worth it."

The Roadrunners' only seniors this year were Caldwell and Soli Herrera. Major contributors like van Schaik, Tougas, Kayla Morris and Garrisen Freeman were underclassmen. But McCall expressed concerns that some players might choose to transfer.

"As much as I know I love these young ladies and I know they love me back," he said, "I still have to be real about it."

He struck an optimistic tone even so entering the offseason.

"If we can keep this core together," he said, "and I pray to God hard that I do, I really really do, I think we're going to have something really, really special here."

Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.