California State University at Northridge
3-0
BYU
0-2
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Matadors Post 63-54 Victory at BYU
11/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
PROVO, Utah ---The CSUN women's basketball team (3-0) defeated BYU 63-54 Wednesday morning in a non-conference contest at The Marriott Center. Ashlee Guay led the Matadors with 19 points, Tessa Boagni added 10 off the bench and the Matadors posted one of the bigger road victories in program history.
A perennial power in NCAA women's basketball, BYU offered a stiff test for CSUN in its first road game of the year. CSUN made just one of its first seven field goals and trailed 10-4 roughly six minutes into the game and Camille Mahlknecht and Jasmine Johnson each picked up two fouls in the first eight minutes of action.
However, the Matadors were unfazed and continued to claw back into the game.
A pair of 3-pointers from Emily Cole and a lay-up by Janae Sharpe gave the Matadors a 17-15 lead midway through the first half.  After BYU tied the game at 17, CSUN answered with a run to take a 27-20 lead. Cinnamon Lister knocked down four free throws and Boagni added a pair in the run.
CSUN continued on its run the rest of the half and capped it with a 3-pointer from Guay in the corner to give the Matadors a 34-23 lead at halftime. CSUN held the host Cougars to 27.6 percent (8-of-29) shooting from the field and out-rebounded BYU 30-17 in the first half.
In the second half, BYU came out determined to cut into the lead in their home opener. CSUN withstood most of the Cougars' attempts, although BYU was able to cut the lead to three (49-46) with 7:32 left in the half.
That was as close as the Cougars would get as CSUN did a good job getting second chance opportunities and converting their free throws. In all, CSUN finished with a 48-31 rebounding advantage and pulled down 22 offensive rebounds.
Guay finished with a team-high 19 points. She went 6-of-13 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. She added four assists, six rebounds and a block in 37 minutes of action.
Sharpe became the 11th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. The senior guard posted eight points, nine rebounds and a game-high six assists in the victory. She now has 1,006 points for her career.
Boagni scored in double-figures for the second straight game, coming off the bench to finish with 10 points and a season-high seven rebounds. Lister posted nine points while senior Randi Friess tied a career high with 10 rebounds.
"This is a great team win for us. Everybody did their job and no one tried to do too much," Friess said. "It was a huge team effort. We were all on the same page, we were all communicating and we all had great energy. I think this year our team has shown a lot of maturity, especially at the start of games. We do a good job of keeping our composure, take it one possession at a time and I think that is a testament to our team's maturity."
Morgan Bailey was a tough interior presence for the Cougars all day. The senior forward finished with a game-high 22 points, but grabbed just two rebounds in defeat.
In all, CSUN shot 33.3 percent (22-of-66) from the field compared to 38.2 percent (21-of-55) for BYU. CSUN turned the ball over just 11 times and forced 13 Cougar miscues. Both teams scored 24 points in the paint and CSUN's bench outscored the Cougars' 19-11.
"I think any time you are able to go on the road and win it is good, but to win at a program like BYU is a testament to our kids and their character," CSUN head coach Jason Flowers said. "This group of seniors does a lot of great things and they have shown year in and year out what they are capable of when we play as unit. You want to minimize mistakes on the road as much as possible and we did a great job today. We only turned the ball over 11 times, which is good for us and any time you go out on the road. We did not shoot the ball all that well today, but we made the effort plays."
CSUN returns to action on Friday, Nov. 21 with a home contest against Portland. Tip off between the Matadors and Pilots is set for 7 p.m. from The Matadome.