CSUN Draws No. 4/5 Notre Dame To Open NCAA Tournament

Complete Bracket

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—CSUN, the Big West Tournament champion, was awarded the 16th seed in the Spokane regional and will travel to Notre Dame, the No. 1 seed on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship.

Tip is set for 2 p.m. PT on Friday as the Matadors will face the Fighting Irish (who are ranked fourth in the USA Today/WBCA Top 25 and fifth in the AP Top 25 poll) in a game that will be televised on ESPN 2. There will be an audio call on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health beginning at 1:55 p.m. The winner of the CSUN-Notre Dame game will play the winner of the game between the eighth seed South Dakota and the ninth seed Villanova on Sunday with a time to be determined.
Despite four season-ending injuries which left the Irish with seven healthy scholarship players (no scholarship guard off the bench), Coach Muffet McGraw led Notre Dame to a 29-3 record and a share of the ACC Regular Season championship. The Fighting Irish lost 74-72 to Louisville in the ACC Tournament finals. Notre Dame had the No. 1 rated strength of schedule, defeating nine ranked opponents along the way, which stands as the second most in the country. McGraw was named USA Today Coach of the Year.

Junior guard Arike Ogunbowale, a second team USA Today All-American, posted an ACC-best 20.2 points per game, which also ranks 24th in the country. Her 20 games of 20-plus points also leads the ACC while tying Notre Dame's all-time single-season record.

After starting the season 0-5, CSUN went 19-10 on the way to winning the Big West Tournament title for the third time in five seasons. The Matadors are the first fifth seed and the first team to win four games to claim the Big West Tournament title.

For the second year in a row, CSUN's Channon Fluker was named Big West Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year. She led the Big West in rebounding (12.1), blocked shots (2.7), double-doubles (21), and free throws made (158). She was third in the league in scoring (18.6), third in free throw shooting (76.7), and sixth in field goal shooting (51.1).

Tessa Boagni was named Big West Conference Tournament MVP Mar. 10. The 6-2 New Zealand native average 19.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game during the tournament. Boagni shot 53.7% (29-of-54) from the floor and 79.2% (19-of-24) from the free throw line. Boagni added five steals and two blocks during the tournament. She became the 12th CSUN women's basketball player to score at least 1,000 points in a career Mar. 6 when she scored 19 against the University of Hawai'i.

~www.GoMatadors.com~

CSUN Draws No. 4/5 Notre Dame To Open NCAA Tournament

Players Mentioned

Tessa Boagni

Channon Fluker

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