CSUN Travels for Non-Conference Games at Southern Utah, Utah

Tuesday, December 1

Cedar City, Utah

12:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

Southern Utah

CSUN Travels for Non-Conference Games at Southern Utah, Utah

11/30/2015 10:49:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Matadors Face Thunderbirds, Utes on the Road

By: by Geoffrey Herberg

COMPLETE RELEASE IN PDF FORMAT

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. --- The CSUN women's basketball team (1-5) hits the road for two non-conference games in The Beehive State this week. On Tuesday, Dec. 1, the Matadors open the calendar month with a noon showdown against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds. Two days later, CSUN squares off with the Pac-12 Conference's Utah Utes in a 6 p.m. affair. Both games will feature live stats and live video with links available at GoMatadors.com. Fans are also encouraged to check with the CSUN Athletic Department's official Twitter handles (@GoMatadors, @_AlwaysFamily_) for updates throughout the weekend.

Last week, CSUN went 1-1 in its Radisson Hotel Chatsworth Thanksgiving Basketball Classic. The Matadors defeated Penn State 81-73 on Nov. 27 before falling to Georgia in the championship game on Nov. 28.

Sophomore guard Serafina Maulupe scored 16 of her career-high 19 points in the second half against the Lady Lions. Freshman guard Claudia Ramos added a career-high 18 points, including a perfect 4-of-4 from 3-point range, and junior Emily Cole scored all 14 of her points, including four 3-pointers, in the first half. The victory was CSUN's first ever against a current Big Ten Conference opponent.

The next day, CSUN fell to the Lady Bulldogs in the tournament finale. Maulupe again led the team in scoring, finishing with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field. She averaged 16.5 ppg over the two days to earn All-Tournament Team honors.

This week offers CSUN two more opportunities to post its first road win of the season. Although Southern Utah is 0-6 on the year, they have two players averaging more than 12 points per game and have held opponents to less than 30 percent shooting from 3-point range. The Matadors have not defeated the Thunderbirds since the 1991 season and have lost 14-straight games in the all-time series.

Utah is 3-2 on the year and is coming off neutral-site losses to Oklahoma and Boston College in The Bahamas. The Utes are 3-0 at home with wins against South Dakota, Lamar and George Mason. CSUN and Utah have never met in women's basketball and the Matadors will be looking for their third win against a Pac-12 opponent over the last four seasons. The Matadors defeated UCLA in 2012 and USC in 2013.

Scouting Southern Utah

The Southern Utah Thunderbirds are 0-6 on the season and are coming off losses at New Mexico and North Carolina A&T
The Thunderbirds also lost a 63-58 decision to Big West member UC Irvine on Nov. 19
Junior forward Jessica Richardson averages a team-high 12.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game
Ashleigh Munns, a 5-9 senior guard from England, is second on the team in scoring at 12.3 ppg on 37.5 percent shooting from 3-point range
As a team, Southern Utah is shooting 31.1 percent from the field and 30.6 percent from 3-point range
The Thunderbirds average 43.5 rebounds per game and have shot 64 percent from the free throw line as a team
Southern Utah leads the all-timer series with CSUN 18-3 and has won the last 14 games in the series
The Matadors have never won on the road in the series and their last win against Southern Utah came in 1991

Scouting Utah

The Utah Utes are 3-2 on the season and are coming off losses to Oklahoma and Boston College in Freeport, Bahamas
Utah is 3-0 at home this season, posting victories over South Dakota, Lamar and George Mason
Emily Potter is a 6-6 redshirt sophomore who averages a team-high 16.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game
Paige Crozon, a 5-11 junior forward, averages 9.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game for the Utes
As a team, Utah is shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 24.7 percent from 3-point range
The Utes average 40.3 rebounds per game and limit their opponents to 33.8 per contest
Opponents have committed 51 turnovers against Utah while the Utes have turned the ball over 96 times
CSUN and Utah have never met in women's basketball

Next Week

CSUN will host San Diego State on Monday. Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. inside The Matadome. The game is the Matadors' final before an 11-day break for finals. CSUN defeated San Diego State last season in San Diego 65-54 on Dec. 20, 2014.