Season-ending road swing starts Saturday at Antelope Valley

Game 22

Cal Maritime Keelhaulers (2-19, 2-15 Cal Pac)
at
Antelope Valley Pioneers (16-9, 13-4 Cal Pac)

Saturday, Feb. 17 – 2 p.m.
Lancaster, Calif. – Pioneer Event Center

Video/Live Stats


VALLEJO, Calif. – When these teams first met in mid-January, Cal Maritime entered the last contest of a month-long string of road games — due to campus' holiday break combined with the setup and execution of U.S. Coast Guard Exams inside PEAC Main Gym — and looked to remain in postseason contention against a team that sat atop the Cal Pac standings that evening.

What took place throughout all four quarters was a back-and-forth battle that saw each team grind for every basket scored in a game that remained within two possessions for the final four minutes and 34 seconds of regulation.

Facing an opportunity to send that game into overtime, Cal Maritime's last-second three-point attempt fell short of its target and Antelope Valley escaped with a three-point victory over the Keelhaulers, barely ending CSUM's potential sweep of that week's Cal Pac matchups since it earned a road rivalry victory at Pacific Union less than 48 hours beforehand.

Following a victory in Tuesday's home finale versus the Pioneers, the Keelhaulers face an opportunity to sweep its weekly schedule with a desired result against Antelope Valley... albeit with a twist.

This week, it is Cal Maritime's turn to travel since the first game of this season's series took place in Angwin, California, at Pacific Union.

Even though Cal Maritime is eliminated from postseason play, this is still an important road game for both participating teams. If you ask Cal Pac women's basketball head coaches, they will tell you that CSUM is a team on the rise that is starting to reach its potential and become a postseason-caliber program. For Antelope Valley, Saturday's game at the Pioneer Event Center is a crucial one for Cal Pac Tournament seeding since the Pioneers enter the week in second place one-half game behind Benedictine Mesa.

Women's basketball's final Southern California trip of the season will pit two of the Cal Pac's leading scorers against one another since UAV's Janae Turner is ranked No. 3 at 18.5 points per game with her Cal Maritime counterpart, Alicia Porter, possessing the fourth-highest overall scoring clip by averaging 16.8 ppg.

By averaging 10.1 rebounds per game, Porter is the only player in the league averaging a double-double this season.

The graduate student guard/forward will arrive to Lancaster within striking distance of her program's all-time scoring record since she needs only 37 points to overtake Lauren Greenwell (Westbrook) for the top spot in the Keelhaulers' records book.

As a team, Cal Maritime enters the weekend ranked No. 2 in the conference in three-point shooting (113 3FGM), behind Embry-Riddle for the No. 1 spot by only one basket, and No. 2 in assists per game (13.3), trailing that same Eagles squad for the top ranking during conference play.

A key reason why the Keelhaulers have shined in recent weeks with its unselfish play on offense is sophomore Aysia Santos. Responsible for a combined 10 assists throughout her team's recent three-game homestand, the sophomore guard enters the weekend ranked third in the league averaging 3.4 assists per game versus conference opponents.

Once the team returns to Vallejo this weekend, the final week of the regular season involves a trip to Arizona for games at Park Gilbert (Feb. 22) and Benedictine Mesa (Feb. 24).