California State University at Northridge
4-0
Portland
0-2
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
CSUN Escapes with 45-41 Victory over Portland
11/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Friday's contest was an offensive struggle for both teams. In the first half, Portland shot 5-of-22 (22.7 percent) from the field and trailed 29-15 at halftime. In the second half, it was CSUN that struggled mightily from the field to the tune of 3-of-26 (11.5 percent) from the field.Â
The Matadors' offensive inefficiency was due in large part to the 2-3 zone employed by the Pilots throughout the game. In the first half, CSUN attacked the paint and found success as Guay canned four 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.Â
That aggressiveness evaporated in the second half and Portland wound up out-scoring CSUN 26-15 in the frame. Despite not scoring a field goal over the final 10 minutes of action, the Matadors were able to post the victory behind some timely free throw shooting at the end of the game.
Cinnamon Lister finished with eight points and tied a career high with six rebounds. All eight of her points came in the second half and from the free throw line. Â
Guay finished 5-for-13 from the field and added three rebounds and a steal in 34 minutes of action. She is third in program history with 131 career 3-pointers.Â
Camille Mahlknecht finished with eight points, nine rebound and three blocked shots. She is now tied with former UCSB Gaucho Mekia Valentine for the seventh-most blocks in Big West Conference history at 235 rejections.Â
Caroline Gilling pulled down a career-high five rebounds and added three points. Randi Friess added seven rebounds and Janae Sharpe had eight points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
In all, CSUN shot 24.6 percent (15-of-61) from the field compared to 33.3 percent (15-of-45) for Portland. Friday marked the second-straight game where CSUN posted a victory despite shooting a lower percentage from the field than its opponent.Â
"We had a big enough lead at halftime and that helped us sustain a gap in the second half, but they were on the attack and we were flat footed," CSUN associate head coach Lindsey Foster said. "We need to change our mindset for the next game. We are going to go back and look at the film and get better from it. We are lucky to get a win at home against a long and tall Portland team."
Freshman center Sara Zaragoza led the Pilots with 10 points. CSUN out-rebounded Portland 49-36 and had 20 offensive rebounds. Still, Portland had a 24-14 advantage in points in the paint. The Matadors scored 15 points off 22 Portland turnovers.
CSUN is off now until Friday, Nov. 28 when it hosts the Radisson Hotel Chatsworth Thanksgiving Basketball Classic. The Matadors welcome IUPUI, Montana State and Texas Southern to the San Fernando Valley for games on Nov. 28 and 29.
On Friday, Nov. 28, Texas Southern and IUPUI start the event with a contest at 2:30 p.m. That game will be followed by CSUN and Montana State at approximately 5 p.m. The next day begins at noon with the consolation game and the championship game at approximately 2:30 p.m.Â
A complete schedule for the tournament can be found here.Â