California State University at Northridge
14-6, 4-2BWC
Long Beach State
17-2, 4-1BWC
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Second Half Surge Keys CSUN Win at Long Beach State
1/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Saturday's game figured to be quite battle, pitting Long Beach State on a 15-game winning streak against the defending Big West regular season and tournament champions in CSUN. It certainly did not disappoint.
The Matadors struggles from the first half evaporated in the second as CSUN slowly crept back into the game after shooting under 31 percent from the field in the first half. Over the final 20 minutes, CSUN shot 45.7 percent (16-of-35) and made three of its six 3-point attempts.
One of the key moments in the game came early in the second half. A Hallie Meneses' fast break lay-up put LBSU up 36-31 with roughly 13 minutes to play. On the ensuing CSUN possession, 49ers' head coach Jody Wynn was hit with a technical foul. Ashlee Guay made both free throws and the Matadors would go on to out-score the 49ers 34-16 the rest of the game.
After missing its first 10 3-point attempts, CSUN finally got its first bucket behind the arc when Cinnamon Lister drained a trey to get the Matadors within 38-36 with 12:11 to play. On the next possession, Boagni scored to tie the game.
Janae Sharpe and Camille Malhknecht scored consecutively to give the Matadors a 42-40 lead with just about 10 minutes to play. Lister broke a 42-42 tie with her second 3-pointer at 8:35 and then hit her third a minute later to give CSUN a four-point lead.
Long Beach State got back to within two points the next time down the floor, but could get no closer than four the rest of the way. The loss snapped the 49ers' 15-game winning streak.
Guay, who was named one of 30 Finalists for the Senior CLASS Award on Friday, led the Matadors with 18 points. She added six rebounds, four assists and knocked down all six of her free throw attempts. At 268 career steals, Guay is eighth in Big West Conference history.
Mahlknecht recorded her 12th career double-double by finishing with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. The performance was her second-straight game with double figures in rebounds. She also added two steals and her two blocks increased her career total to 268, the fifth-most in Big West Conference history.
"As a team, we had more of a defensive mindset in the second half and focused on getting stops. We were able to capitalize once we got those stops," Mahlknecht said. "We were unsatisfied at halftime. We came in with a gameplan and did not execute in the first half. I think this was the best game we have played together in a long time. We started to play like the team we know we are."Â
Lister scored 12 points in the victory, surpassing 900 career points in the process. She knocked down three important 3-pointers in the second half to raise her CSUN career total to 133 in just 52 games as a Matador.
Sharpe was the fourth Matador in double figures, finishing with 11 points. She had six rebounds and moved past LaJoyce King for eighth in school history with 1,214 points for her career.
Tessa Boagni posted a career-high 10 rebounds for the second-straight game and added eight points and a career-high two blocked shots. Jasmine Johnson had all of CSUN's three bench points and added six rebounds in the win.
CSUN led 8-7 early, but the 49ers went on a 9-0 run to take a 16-8 lead with about 12 minutes left in the first half. Camille Mahlknecht and Tessa Boagni had lay-ups on consecutive possessions to help CSUN end the spurt.
The teams traded baskets and LBSU maintained a 21-15 lead with 7:41 left in the first half. The lead swelled back to 27-17 with exactly four minutes to play in the first half. Ashlee Guay and Jasmine Johnson had some free throws to inch back into the contest, but CSUN still trailed 29-20 at halftime.
CSUN turned the ball over 13 times in the first half, resulting in 15 points for the 49ers. That quieted down in the second, when the Matadors committed nine turnovers that resulted in four Long Beach State points.
The Matadors won the rebounding battle 55-33. CSUN collected 19 offensive rebounds and scored 17 second-chance points. CSUN also held a 38-32 advantage on points in the paint after trailing in the category 20-14 at halftime.
The Matadors play at home in their next contest, a 4 p.m. match-up with UC Riverside at The Matadome. Two days later, CSUN ventures to Honolulu to face Hawai'I in an important league road contest.