California State University at Northridge
22-9, 11-5
UC Davis
15-16, 8-8
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
CSUN Women's Basketball Beats UC Davis to Advance to Big West Tournament Final
3/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Senior guard Ashlee Guay finished with a game-high 21 points and added seven rebounds and six assists in 35 minutes. Fellow senior Cinnamon Lister finished with 13 points, including three 3-pointers. The team's third senior guard, Janae Sharpe, scored 10 points and senior center Camille Mahlknecht pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.Â
The game was a defensive stalemate in the first half, but CSUN went into the locker with a 25-14 advantage. UC Davis shot 6-of-18 from the field compared to 10-of-30 shooting for the Matadors. However, in a theme that played out over the game, CSUN knocked down three 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes compared to zero for UC Davis.Â
The Aggies started the second half by scoring the first five points and forced CSUN into a quick timeout. UC Davis closed to within two points (33-31) with about 11 minutes to play on a lay-up from Alyson Doherty.Â
On the next possession, Randi Friess, the Matadors' fifth senior, knocked down a 3-pointer to restore a five-point CSUN lead. UC Davis answered with a basket at the other end, but Guay knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Matadors a six-point lead.Â
Another UC Davis basket cut the lead back to four before Lister knocked down one of her three 3-pointers to give CSUN a 42-35 lead. From there, the Matadors closed the game on a 19-12 run to seal the victory.Â
Guay finished 6-of-19 from the field, 2-of-5 from 3-point range and 7-of-13 from the free throw line. At 531 career assists, she needs two more Saturday to move into seventh in Big West Conference history.
Lister was an efficient 3-of-4 from 3-point range to raise her CSUN career total to 153, the third-most in school history. She added a rebound and a steal in 31 minutes of work.Â
Sharpe was 3-of-9 from the field and added six rebounds and two assists. Mahlknecht chipped in six points and five of her 12 rebounds came on the offensive glass. Friess finished with seven rebounds, two assists and a steal to go with the important 3-pointer.Â
UC Davis became the seventh CSUN opponent to score 50 or fewer points this year. The Aggies finished 20-of-47 (42.6 percent) from the field compared to 20-of-54 (37 percent) for CSUN.Â
The difference was the 3-point shooting. The top team from the perimeter in the league throughout the season, UC Davis finished 1-of-7 (14.3 percent) from 3-point range. Kelsey Harris, the Big West's top 3-point shooter from a percentage perspective, was 0-for-1 from 3-point range.Â
CSUN knocked down 8-of-21 from 3-point range and held a 39-31 advantage on the glass. The Matadors scored 17 points off 19 UCD turnovers and had 12 second-chance points off 14 offensive rebounds.Â
The Matadors and Rainbow Wahine will meet for the third time this season Saturday, having each won their home floor earlier this year. Â CSUN defeated Cal Poly last year in the Big West Tournament Championship to win its first Big West Championship and second berth in its Division I history in the NCAA Tournament.Â
The 22 victories marks the most by a Matador team in the program's Division I era and ties the 1988-89 team for the most in school history.Â