VALLEJO, Calif. - The women's basketball squad continued to stay hot as they took down California Maritime Academy 66-53 for its third straight conference win.
Tessa Kinney picked up the first points of the night before a three-pointer by
Nikki Thompson gave Simpson the 5-3 lead.
Simpson extended its largest lead of the first quarter to double-digits on a jump shot by
Cerina Nguyen to extend its lead to 17-7.
The Keelhaulers posted the final two buckets of the first quarter to make it a 17-12 Simpson lead as they headed into the second quarter.
The first four buckets of the second quarter belonged to reigning Cal Pac Offensive Player of the Week,
Anna Marshall.
Cal Maritime pulled within three points with just over six minutes left in the second quarter before the Red Hawks offense exploded to go on a 19-4 run to end the half.
The Red Hawks dominated the second quarter as they outscored the Keelhaulers 21-8 with Marshall leading the way with 11 points as she shot 4-6 from the floor.
Marshall closed out the first half on a tough layup in the paint that drew the foul to complete the three-point play to give Simpson the 38-20 lead heading into the half.
Thompson got the second-half scoring started for the Red Hawks as she drained a three-pointer followed by a layup by Kinney and a jumper by Nguyen to extend Simpson's largest lead of the night to 23 points.
The Red Hawks cemented its third straight victory paced by Marshall's team-high eight points in the fourth quarter.
With the win, Simpson keeps pace with first-place UC Merced as they own a 2.5-game lead over third-place Golden Eagles.
Marshall continues to tear it up as the reigning Cal Pac Offensive Player of the Week is averaging 23.5 PPG over the past three games as she posted a team-high 26 points and eight rebounds.
Thompson notched 13 points with eight rebounds followed close behind by Kinney with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Simpson looks to be back in action this Saturday night as they host Pacific Union College at 6:15 pm.
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