UCSD Women's Basketball Team Improves to 6-0

Senior point guard Chelsea Carlisle scored a game-high 26 points to lead the eighth-ranked women’s basketball team to an 80-65 win over No. 4 Fort Lewis College in the final game of the UCSD Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday evening at RIMAC Arena.

The Tritons shot a blistering 61.5 percent in the second half to run away from the Skyhawks and claim the Thanksgiving Classic title in resounding fashion. UCSD, which also defeated Cal State San Marcos during the tournament, improves to 6-0 with the win and enters California Collegiate Athletic Association play this weekend with a flawless record.

Carlisle finished 10-of-16 from the floor, including 5-of-7 from the three-point line, and also tallied eight rebounds and six assists in 35 minutes. She hit seven of her eight shots, including all four of her three-point tries, en route to a 20-point effort in the second half, helping UCSD outscore Fort Lewis (3-1) 46-32 in the period.

The Agoura Hills native was named the Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team Most Valuable Player for her performance. She also was named the Wilson/California Collegiate Athletic Association Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the week ending Nov. 27, her second such award this season.

Emily Osga finished with 15 points, four rebounds and two assists for UCSD, while Daisy Feder added 14 points, four boards and a pair of assists, as well. Erin Dautremont chipped in with six points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Saturday’s victory marked the program’s first win over a top-10 opponent since UCSD defeated No. 8 Chico State, 60-46, on Dec. 1, 2007.

UCSD will open CCAA play against Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State L.A. on the road this weekend. The Tritons will take on the Toros on Friday in Carson, before traveling to Los Angeles to face the Golden Eagles on Saturday. Both contests will tip at 5:30 p.m.

MEN'S WATER POLO

The UC San Diego men's water polo team will be the No. 3 seed for the NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship, hosted by the University of California this weekend in Berkeley.

The Tritons will face second-seeded UCLA (23-4) on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the second semifinal. Prior to the UCSD-UCLA game, top-seeded University of Southern California (22-3) will play No. 4 Princeton University (21-9) at 1 p.m.

The winners of each semifinal will play for the NCAA title on Sunday at 3 p.m. The third-place game will be played at 1 p.m. All four championship games will be streamed live on NCAA.com.

Conferences receiving automatic qualification included the Collegiate Water Polo Association, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and the Western Water Polo Association.

Princeton defeated Navy 10-7 to win the Eastern Championships at take the CWPA's bid, UCLA beat USC in sudden-victory on Sunday for the MPSF's automatic bid, and UCSD took the WWPA's spot in the tournament. Defending national champion USC received the only at-large ticket into this year's four-team field despite losing in the MPSF championship game to the Bruins.

In 2010, USC downed Cal 12-10 in overtime to capture its third consecutive and sixth overall national title.

UCSD and UCLA clashed earlier this season on Nov. 6 in La Jolla. The Bruins limited the Tritons to just a single goal in each quarter as UCLA prevailed, 9-4.

UCLA and UCSD do have some history at the NCAA Championships. In 2000,  the Bruins topped the Tritons 11-2 in UCSD's first and only appearance in the national championship game.

MEN'S GOLF

Mike Wydra, the longtime head coach of the UC San Diego men’s golf program, will be inducted into the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame, the organization announced earlier this month.

Wydra is one of five coaches that will be officially honored at the GCAA Hall of Fame Reception and Awards Banquet on Monday, December 5 at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas.

“It’s a tremendous honor to not only be inducted into the Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame, but to be a part of such an amazing class of coaches this year,” Wydra said. “So many individuals have played a role in my career, but I definitely owe a huge thank you to my wife, Terrilee, and the over three decades of players that have come through this program. I wouldn’t have gotten to this point without all of them.”  

Joining Wydra in this year’s Hall of Fame class will be Arthur Boulet of Bryant University, Ken Hyland of Malone University, Vince Jarrett of Abilene Christian and Odessa College’s Jimmy Russell. Gary Hart, formerly of PING, will also be inducted for his contributions to collegiate golf.

Now in his 33rd season at UCSD, Wydra has built a program that has achieved tremendous success and national acclaim at both the NCAA Division II and III levels. His teams have qualified for the NCAA Championships a total of 21 times since he took over in 1980, and in 1993, he led the Tritons' to the D-III national tile on their home course at nearby Torrey Pines.

UCSD has finished second at the national championships five times during Wydra's tenure and captured national third place honors on two occasions. The Tritons last qualified for the National Championships in 2004, finishing 15th overall in the final team standings.

Since taking over the UCSD golf program, Wydra has led the Tritons to top-five national finishes 13 times. He has produced a total of 54 All-Americans and 27 Tritons have gone on to play professionally. He was named the Far West Coach of the Year every year from 1990 through 1999 and, in 1993 he was selected as the Bridgestone NCAA Division III Coach of the Year after winning the national championship.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

For the third straight season, UC San Diego women's volleyball player Roxanne Brunsting was named Honorable Mention All-America by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Monday.

It's the third major honor earned by Brunsting this season as the senior was also named AVCA All-West Region and selected to the All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) First Team. It was the third consecutive season that Brunsting garnered those two awards as well.

The versatile Brunsting played setter and outside hitter, leading the Tritons in assists and service aces while finishing third in kills, digs and points. Just one of three Tritons to play in all 102 sets this season, she recorded two triple-doubles and 21 double-doubles. Brunsting totaled 20 or more assists in 19 matches and 15 or more digs 12 times.

Brunsting, who didn't start setting until 2010, platooned at the position this season and accumulated 626 assists, putting her over 1,000 for her career. She came into the season with over 1,000 digs, making her just the second Triton in program history to hit the mark in those two categories.

With 1,596 career digs, Brunsting is second on UCSD's all-time list, just 32 behind the school record holder.

The Chula Vista native set two career-highs in 2011 with 37 assists at San Francisco State and a .583 (8-1-12) hitting percentage against Cal State Monterey Bay.

The AVCA Division II Freshman of the Year was middle blocker Katie Habeck of Concordia-St. Paul. The AVCA Player of the Year will be named later this week.

The Tritons finished their season at 22-6 overall and advanced to the NCAA postseason for the sixth consecutive year.

—Compiled from press releases issued by the UCSD sports information office