Keelhaulers sweep Cal Pac rivals with a 104-72 blowout victory

VALLEJO, Calif. – Fans attending Tuesday's Cal Pac rivalry clash at PEAC Main gym were treated to an exciting start to the final home women's basketball game of the season since Cal Maritime, and Pacific Union, were knotted at 18 after the first quarter. 

Once the second quarter started, the Keelhaulers played near-perfect basketball on both ends of the court for the entire 10 minutes of action: In addition to outscoring the Pioneers 33-13 in that quarter alone, CSUM hit 14 of 21 shots from the floor (67 pct.) 4 of 7 attempts from three (57 pct.) and 1 of 2 trips to the stripe to pull away from PUC for good even though the entire second half still remained.

Following halftime, Cal Maritime continued where it left off before the break by outscoring PUC by 10 in the third and by two in the fourth quarters to end its home slate with a 104-72 blowout victory versus the Pioneers — the first game of the Imhotet Amen-Ra era where CSUM broke the 100-point threshold, setting a new season high total in the process.

#TFW you sweep your @Cal_Pac rivals by winning the last home game of the season by 30+ points! #GoKeelhaulers #KeelhaulerPride @calmaritimewbb @Cal_Maritime pic.twitter.com/5f4re77yZ1

— Cal Maritime Keelhaulers (@GoKeelhaulers) February 14, 2024

The Keelhaulers' defense was outstanding all night long and forced PUC to truly earn every point scored throughout the game. Held to only 33 pct. shooting overall, the Pioneers only hit 3 of 16 attempts from three (19 pct.).

In the final home game of her career, Alicia Porter walked off the court with 25 points and 15 rebounds, both game highs. Marissa Serrano's last home appearance was one fans will remember for a long time because she scored 17, one shy of her career high set three days ago in her team's Senior Day game, by canning 7 of 11 shots.

"AP played with a type of efficiency any coach would love to see. As was the case with the entire team, nobody played over 30 minutes tonight, we truly enjoyed a balanced game tonight," said Amen-Ra.

Dylan Fulton frustrated the Pioneers all night long: she posted 19 points and eight rebounds; Aysia Santos chipped in another 13, Alina Daffon and Lexy Wallace completed CSUM's list of double-digit scorers by recording 12 and 10, respectively.

"Dylan played well all night long; Marissa showed her consistency by scoring 17 points coming off her 18-point game last Saturday; Aysia played aggressively on both ends of the floor; Anika (Carey) did a great job distributing the ball by finishing with seven assists; Kai played unselfishly and earned seven assists of her own. Lexi was highly productive; and Chris did a great job finding people and finished with four assists. This truly was a team effort.

"Credit to our team finding the right person at the right time. We earned 32 assists on 44 field goals. That is truly remarkable and shows we were looking for each other. This is a huge win, specifically for sending the seniors out in style," Amen-Ra added.

Kai Kraus enjoyed a phenomenal night in the paint by collecting a career-high 11 rebounds.

Wherever you look on the box score, Cal Maritime dominated its rival: The Keelhaulers scored 58 points in the paint versus the Pioneers' 32, ended with five more second chance (19-14) and 12 more fast break points (12), outrebounded PUC 56-32 overall, 38-19 on the defensive glass and 18-13 on offense.

"What a way to finish the 2023-24 season in our final game at PEAC, thank you to everyone who supported this team all season long, and I want to give a shout-out to Lauren Greenwell (program's No. 1 all-time scorer) for joining us tonight and watching AP on her journey to break the program's career scoring record. It's always great to have alumni return home," said Amen-Ra.

By starting the week with an early game, women's basketball will have a few days to prepare for its next league matchup, which takes the team to Antelope Valley for Saturday's 5:30 p.m. contest.