Cal State L.A. Athletics

2009-10 CSULA Record: 4-12. CCAA Record: 2-9

 

Golden Eagles Set To Begin Second Half Of Conference Play: Cal State L.A.’s women’s basketball team, which beat Chico State last week for the first time since 2001 to highlight a weekend split, will begin the second half of California Collegiate Athletic Association play this week with three home games. The stretch starts with a big game against Cal State Dominguez Hills on Wednesday and will include games this weekend against Sonoma State on Friday and Humboldt State on Saturday in the Eagles Nest. The win over Chico State snapped a 16-game losing streak to the Wildcats and was Cal State L.A.’s first win away from the Eagles Nest this season. The Golden Eagles will play seven home games and four road games in the second half of conference play. After this week’s contests, the Golden Eagles will be away for the next two weeks for games at Cal State East Bay, UC San Diego, San Francisco State and Cal State Monterey Bay. Cal State L.A. will play its final four games of the regular season at home, beginning with a Feb. 19 contest against Cal Poly Pomona. Cal State L.A. is 3-3 so far this season at home, but 1-9 away from the Eagles Nest. Cal State L.A. is seeking its first winning season since 2006. Cal State L.A. has nine players returning from last year’s team, including four redshirts who will be on the active roster this season. Cal State L.A. also has five newcomers who are expected to bolster the team.

 

Golden Eagles Are On The Web: Cal State L.A.’s home basketball games are streamed live with video and audio on the Golden Eagles’ athletic website. Log onto www.CSULAathletics.com/FanZone and follow the action. Cal State L.A. alum Michael Nemetz provides the play-by-play for all Golden Eagle home basketball games. Fans can also follow live stats on the same page as well as receive text messages with final scores and stat leaders just minutes after the final buzzer. The next Cal State L.A. home game is on Wednesday, Jan. 27, against Cal State Dominguez Hills.

 

Head To Head: Cal State L.A. is 30-35 all-time against Cal State Dominguez Hills and has lost the last seven meetings between the two programs. The Golden Eagles lost the first meeting this season, 87-60, in Carson on Nov. 18. Cal State Dominguez Hills also won both games last season, 52-33 in Los Angeles and 72-35 in Carson. Cal State L.A. is 5-6 all-time against Humboldt State and dropped the first meeting between the two teams, 68-52, on Dec. 3 in Arcata. The Lumberjacks posted a pair of victories last year, 85-54, in Los Angeles and 92-48 in Arcata and have won three straight in the series. The Golden Eagles had swept Humboldt State the previous year in 2007-08. Cal State L.A. is 14-17 all-time against Sonoma State and fell to the Seawolves, 52-41, on Dec. 5 in Rohnert Park. The Golden Eagles had snapped a five-game losing streak against the Seawolves with a 45-43 win in the 2008-09 season finale in Rohnert Park. A basket by Jazzi Johnson with 18 seconds left gave the Golden Eagles the win. Sonoma State won the first meeting last season, 58-48, in Los Angeles.

 

About Last Week: Cal State L.A. posted its biggest win of the season when the Golden Eagles snapped a 16-game losing streak to Chico State with a 58-54 win in Chico. The win was the first for the Golden Eagles over the Wildcats since 2001. The win was the first on the road for the Golden Eagles this season. Jazzi Johnson continued her outstanding play with 22 points, six rebounds and three assists. Shatori Dearman had a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double. Jameiz Terrell contributed nine points and five rebounds. Cal State L.A. shot 46.7 percent for the game and limited Chico State to 31.9 percent shooting. The Golden Eagles had a 42-39 rebounding edge and made 14-of-25 from the free-throw line to Chico State’s 9-of-13. Cal State L.A. came back the next night and sliced a 15-point second-half deficit down to one point in the final minute, but fell to Cal State Stanislaus, 62-59. Dearman had 16 points and six rebounds, Jordan Kuzma had 14 points and five rebounds and Johnson had 11 points and five rebounds. The Golden Eagles shot 40 percent from the floor and held Cal State Stanislaus to just 33.8 percent. Both teams had 19 turnovers and Cal State L.A. was 19-of-25 from the free-throw line, while Cal State Stanislaus was 13-of-18. The Warriors owned a 39-28 rebounding advantage.

 

How We Stand: Cal State L.A. is 12^th in the California Collegiate Athletic Association in scoring at 52.8 points per game and ninth in defense, allowing 62.4 points per game. In conference games only, Cal State L.A. is 11th in scoring at 54.2 points per game and ninth in defense at 63.1 points per game. Several Golden Eagles are among conference leaders. Jazzi Johnson leads the CCAA in shooting percentage (70-110 for 63.6 percent). In conference games only, she is making an incredible 67.5 percent and is seventh in scoring at 13.3 points per game. Jordan Kuzma is sixth in the conference in rebounding (7.4 per game) and third in blocked shots (1.7 per game). Jameiz Terrell is fifth in the conference in 3-point shooting percentage (39.7 percent) and eighth in 3-pointers made.

On The Bench With Coach Turner-Lewis: Tuonisia Turner-Lewis returns for her third season as the Cal State L.A. head coach. She guided the Golden Eagles to a 5-22 record last season that included a 4-16 conference mark. Cal State L.A. ended the season on an upswing, winning two of its final five games, including a season-ending victory at Sonoma State. Turner-Lewis led the Golden Eagles to a 9-17 record in her first year with the program. Cal State L.A. won six more games than it had won the previous season and picked up five more victories in conference play. She came to Cal State L.A. from JSerra Catholic High School, where she led the girls basketball program to a 36-17 record over two years. Before that, she was an NCAA Division I assistant or associate head coach for 12 years at the University of Texas at Arlington, Long Beach State and Winthrop University. As a player, she was the Most Valuable Player at the University of Louisville in 1992 and is one of only four players in program history to score more than 1,000 point and collect more than 500 assists in a career. After receiving her degree in communications, Turner-Lewis served as a color commentator on women’s basketball broadcasts for her alma mater. Her coaching career began at the University of Texas at Arlington, where she was an assistant coach from 1993-96. She then moved on to Long Beach State, where she was an assistant coach and later an associate head coach. She was with the program from 1996-2004 and was responsible for coordinating national and international recruiting efforts, scouting opponents, developing practice plans, training programs and monitoring the academic progress of her student-athletes. With players she helped recruit to Long Beach State, the program produced seven professional basketball players, one WNBA player, two conference Player of the Year recipients, eight first-team All-Conference selections, eight second-team All-Conference selections, four All-Freshman Team selections, two Defensive Player of the Year selections and two Sixth Man of the Year selections. She was then an assistant coach at Winthrop University in South Carolina from 2004-05 where she was in charge of coordinating recruiting student-athletes, scouting opponents and monitoring team academic progress. She then became a faculty member and the girls varsity basketball coach at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, where she spent two seasons.

 

Look Who’s Back: There are nine returning players for the Golden Eagles, although only five saw action for the team last season. Junior center Shatori Dearman, who shared the team leading scoring honors last year with 9.0 points per game, leads the list of returners. Junior guard Jazzi Johnson is back for her third year with the program after averaging 6.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, while sophomore guards Jameiz Terrell, Lacie Jacobsen and Desiree Dominguez also return. In addition, four players who red-shirted last season join the active roster. Junior guard Brionna Baker, freshman guard Sonia Miller, junior forward Danielle Snyder and freshman center Martina Njoku have all seen playing time this season.

 

Look Who’s New: The Golden Eagles have five newcomers who are expected to bolster a young Cal State L.A. squad. Junior forward/center Jordan Kuzma, who is second on the team in scoring and leads the team in rebounding, heads the list of newcomers. She comes to Cal State L.A. from Mt. San Antonio College. Another former Mt. San Antonio College player, sophomore guard Kelli McClintick, also joins the squad. Sophomore guard Stacie Whitley and junior guard Michelle Salemi also have joined the team. Megan Iloff, a top recruit for the Golden Eagles out of East Los Angeles College, is also new to the team, but might miss the season with an injury.

 

CCAA Tourney Back For A Third Year: The California Collegiate Athletic Association added an eight-team championship tournament in 2007-08 and the tourney will have the same format – although a new championship location for 2009-10. The top eight teams in the conference will compete in a postseason tourney. The first-round games will be held at campus locations, while the semi-final and championship games will be held at Humboldt State. Cal State San Bernardino’s Coussoulis Arena was the location for the first two years. The winner of the tournament will receive the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II playoffs. Last season, Cal State Dominguez Hills punched its ticket to the NCAA playoffs by winning the tournament as the No. 3 seed. In the first year of the tourney, Chico State beat UC San Diego in the finals to win the championship.

What The Coaches Predict: UC San Diego was picked to win the California Collegiate Athletic Association championship in voting done by the conference coaches. Cal Poly Pomona was picked second, Humboldt State was third, Cal State Dominguez Hills was fourth, Chico State was fifth, Cal State San Bernardino was sixth, San Francisco State was seventh, Cal State Monterey Bay was eighth, Sonoma State was ninth, Cal State Stanislaus was 10^th, Cal State L.A. was 11^th and Cal State East Bay was 12^th.

 

Last Week: DNP-CD.

2009-10: Averaging 1.0 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.

Season Highs: Points – 6 at Sonoma State (12-5-09); Rebounds – 4 vs. Academy of Art (12-12-09); Assists – 2 at Sonoma State (12-5-09).

Career Highs: First year with the program.

Last Week: Had nine points, three rebounds and three assists against Cal State Stanislaus on Saturday; had five points, four rebounds and one assist against Chico State on Friday.

2009-10: Averaging 3.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Leads the team in assists.

Season Highs: Points – 9 at Cal State Stanislaus (1-23-10); Rebounds – 4 at Chico State (1-22-10), at San Diego Christian (11-21-09); Assists – 5 at Cal State San Bernardino (1-15-10), vs. Dixie State College (12-22-09).

Career Highs: First year with the program.

            Last Week: DNP-CD (injury).

            2009-10: Has not played yet.

            Season Highs: Has not played yet.

            Career Highs: First year with the program.

Last Week: DNP-CD.

2009-10: Averaging 0.0 points, 0.5 rebounds and 0.0 assists per game.

Season Highs: Points – 0; Rebounds – 2 at Cal Poly Pomona (1-16-10); Assists – 0.

Career Highs: Points – 5 at Chico State (1-17-09); Rebounds – 4 at Sonoma State (2-27-09); Assists – 3 at Cal State San Bernardino (1-31-09).

Last Week: Had four points and four rebounds against Chico State on Friday; had one point, one rebound and two assists against Cal State Stanislaus on Saturday.

2009-10: Averaging 4.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

Season Highs: Points – 10 vs. UC San Diego (1-2-10); Rebounds – 9 vs. UC San Diego (1-2-10); Assists – 3 vs. Cal State East Bay (1-3-10), vs. UC San Diego (1-2-10).

Career Highs: First year with the program.

 

12        JAZZI JOHNSON (G, Jr., Sacramento, Kennedy High School)

Last Week: Had 22 points, six rebounds and three assists against Chico State on Friday; had 11 points and five rebounds against Cal State Stanislaus on Saturday.

2009-10: Averaging 12.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Leads the team in scoring. Leads the CCAA in shooting percentage (.636)

Season Highs: Points – 23 vs. San Francisco State (1-9-10); Rebounds – 12 vs. San Francisco State (1-9-10); Assists – 5 vs. UC San Diego (1-2-10).

Career Highs: Points – 23 vs. San Francisco State (1-9-10), at Concordia (12-22-07); Rebounds – 12 vs. San Francisco State (1-9-10); Assists – 5 vs. UC San Diego (1-2-10).

 

Last Week: Had nine points, five rebounds and one assist against Chico State on Friday; went scoreless with three rebounds against Cal State Stanislaus on Saturday.

2009-10: Averaging 7.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Is third on the team in scoring and leads the team in 3-pointers (23).

Season Highs: Points – 17 at Cal State Dominguez Hills (11-18-09); Rebounds – 5 at Chico State (1-22-10), vs. San Francisco State (1-9-10); Assists – 4 at Cal State Dominguez Hills (11-18-09).

Career Highs: Points – 17 at Cal State Dominguez Hills (11-18-09); Rebounds – 5 at Chico State (1-22-10), vs. San Francisco State (1-9-10); Assists – 4 at Cal State Dominguez Hills (11-18-09), vs. San Francisco State (1-10-09), at UC San Diego (1-2-09).

 

Last Week: Had four points, five rebounds and one assist against Chico State on Friday; went scoreless with one rebound against Cal State Stanislaus on Saturday.

2009-10: Averaging 3.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.

Season Highs: Points – 13 at Cal Poly Pomona (1-16-10); Rebounds – 6 at Cal Poly Pomona (1-16-10); Assists – 1 at Chico State (1-22-10), vs. Cal State Monterey Bay (1-8-10), vs. Academy of Art (12-12-09).

Career Highs: First year on the active roster.

 

Last Week: DNP-CD

2009-10: Averaging 0.5 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.8 assists per game.

Season Highs: Points – 2 at Cal State Dominguez Hills (11-18-09); Rebounds – 2 at Sonoma State (12-5-09), at San Diego Christian (11-21-09); Assists – 2 at Cal State Dominguez Hills (11-18-09).

Career Highs: Points – 6 at UC San Diego (1-2-09); Rebounds – 4 at Cal State San Bernardino (1-31-09); Assists – 3 at Humboldt State (2-26-09).

 

Last Week: Had six points and two assists against Cal State Stanislaus on Saturday; went scoreless against Chico State on Friday.

2009-10: Averaging 4.6 points, 1.6 rebounds, 0.6 assists per game.

Season Highs: Points – 14 vs. UC San Diego (1-2-10); Rebounds – 4 vs. Cal State Monterey Bay (1-8-10), at Northwest Nazarene (12-18-09); Assists – 2 at Cal State Stanislaus (1-23-10), at Humboldt State (12-3-09).

Career Highs: First year on the active roster.

Last Week: Had 14 points, five rebounds and two assists against Cal State Stanislaus on Saturday; had four points, four rebounds and one assist against Chico State on Friday.

2009-10: Averaging 8.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Leads the team in rebounding and is second in scoring.

Season Highs: Points – 15 vs. Cal State East Bay (1-3-10), vs. UC San Diego (1-2-10); Rebounds – 16 vs. Cal State East Bay (1-3-10); Assists – 2 at Cal State Stanislaus (1-23-10), at Cal State Dominguez Hills (11-18-09).

            Career Highs: First year with the program.

Last Week: DNP-CD.

            2009-10: Averaging 0.0 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.0 assists per game.

Season Highs: Points – 0; Rebounds – 1 at San Diego Christian (11-21-09); Assists -- 0

            Career Highs: First year on the active roster.

 

Last Week: Had a season-high 16 points and six rebounds against Cal State Stanislaus on Saturday; had 10 points and a season-high 10 rebounds against Chico State on Friday.

2009-10: Averaging 6.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.

Season Highs: Points – 16 at Cal State Stanislaus (1-23-10); Rebounds – 10 at Chico State (1-22-10); Assists – 1 at Cal Poly Pomona (1-16-10), at Cal State San Bernardino (1-15-10), vs. UC San Diego (1-2-10), at Cal State Dominguez Hills (11-18-09).

Career Highs: Points – 20 at Humboldt State (2-26-09); Rebounds – 11 vs. Sonoma State (1-23-09); Assists – 2 at Sonoma State (2-27-09), at Humboldt State (2-26-09), vs. Humboldt State (1-24-09).

 

Last Week: Had two points and four rebounds against Cal State Stanislaus on Saturday; went scoreless with one assist against Chico State on Friday.

2009-10: Averaging 0.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.

Season Highs: Points – 2 at Cal State Stanislaus (1-23-10), at Northwest Nazarene (12-18-09); Rebounds – 4 at Cal State Stanislaus (1-23-10), at Northwest Nazarene (12-18-09); Assists – 3 at Northwest Nazarene (12-18-09).

Career Highs: First year on the active roster.