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Cal State Monterey Bay (exhib.)
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| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cal St. Monterey Bay | 12 | 11 | 21 | 10 | 54 |
| Cal Poly | 16 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 65 |
10/29/2026 2:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Four Mustangs racked up double-digit points as Cal Poly women's basketball closed its 2026-27 preseason with a 65-54 exhibition victory over the visiting Cal State Monterey Bay Otters.
The Mustangs led for virtually the entire game, but the Otters hung around and tied the score at 50 with 8:02 remaining. Cal Poly responded with a 7-0 run, a Maddy Tauro layup in transition, two free throws from Sumer Lee, and another Tauro fast-break layup plus the foul, to pull away for good.
Tauro finished with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting and added four steals. Dessirae Ulmer also scored 14 in a spot start for the injured Dulci Vail, and Madison Butcher added 12 points and five rebounds while going 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. Gabby Robinson chipped in 12 points despite fouling out with 2:12 to play.
Cal Poly shot just 19-of-44 (43.2%) from the field but went 20-of-25 (80%) at the line and forced 20 Otter turnovers, converting them into 22 points. The Mustangs also held their opponent below 30% from the perimeter for the second straight game.
All three of the game's first shots were made by Robinson, including an electric three that got the Field Trip Day elementary student crowd going in the first. As CSUMB pulled within 10-8, the Mustangs answered with a 6-0 run over the next minute to regain a sizable eight-point lead. After almost two minutes without scoring, the Otters nabbed two quick baskets at the buzzer for a 16-12 end to the first frame in favor of Cal Poly.
The first basket of the second frame didn't come until 4:57, when Ulmer drove for a made shot and one. CSUMB was held without points until after the media timeout, and the Mustangs remained up eight at the halftime break, 31-23. Dessi scored all but five of the team's quarter tally, totaling 10 points.
Both teams got off to a scoring start in the third quarter, but the Otters flipped the momentum in their direction, firing off a trio of threes and a fast break to knot the score for the first time, 36-36 at 6:45 of the third, capping a 7-0 run over the last minute before Cal Poly called a timeout to regroup. Coming out of the timeout, Tauro hit a three and turned over her own fast break to send the Mustangs back ahead by a handful at the media timeout, 41-38.
The Mustangs went back into a two-and-a-half-minute scoring drought before junior transfer Ulmer added another field goal, forcing CSUMB to take its own break, but the home squad kept driving, tacking on enough to lead by four at the buzzer.
The second half was under Tauro's control as she notched four steals and shot 5-for-9. Despite the Otters tying it back up at 50 in the fourth quarter, Cal Poly turned a corner and scored the next seven points, never looking back and stretching the lead to 63-50 on Tauro's two free throws with 3:15 left. Cal Poly held on for a 65-54 win, rounding out a perfect 2-0 exhibition schedule despite playing just 11 and 9 women, respectively, in the two games.
With the exhibition matchups in the rearview, women’s basketball begins its season with a pair of home matchups, against UC Merced on Nov. 2 and Whittier College on Nov. 5.
