California State University at Northridge
Cal Poly
CSUN Women's Hoops Continues Big West Conference Play
1/20/2016 8:22:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Matadors Square Off with Mustangs and Rainbow Wahine in Big West Action
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. --- The CSUN women's basketball team (2-15, 0-3 Big West Conference) return to action with another pair of Big West contests as the league schedule gets into full swing. On Thursday, CSUN travels to face the Cal Poly Mustangs at 7 p.m. inside Mott Gym. Mark Roberts will be calling the game for the Matadors on the CSUN Sports Network and the game will also be featured live on BigWest.TV and have live stats. Two days later, CSUN returns to the San Fernando Valley to face the Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine for the second time in 10 days in a 4 p.m. contest at The Matadome. Roberts will be on the call again on the CSUN Sports Network and will also be featured on BigWest.TV. Fans are also encouraged to check with the CSUN Athletic Department's official Twitter accounts (@GoMatadors, @CSUNCapeCrew and @_AlwaysFamily_) for updates throughout the game and weekend.Â
Last week, the Matadors dropped a 77-50 decision at Hawai'i and a 66-49 contest at home to UC Santa Barbara. Against the Rainbow Wahine, Serafina Maulupe scored a team-high 17 points and knocked down three 3-pointers for the third time this season. Against the Gauchos, Emily Cole scored a team-high 14 points while Channon Fluker grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds.Â
This week, CSUN will meet the two programs it has defeated in the past two Big West Tournament Championship Games to advance to the 2014 and 2015 NCAA Tournaments. On Thursday, the Matadors make their annual excursion to Mott Gym where they'll be looking for just their second win in 10 years. The Mustangs are a strong rebounding team, averaging 40.5 per game while junior Hannah Gilbert leads the Big West at 9.8 rebounds per game. However, Cal Poly actually sports a negative rebounding margin (-0.3) as its opponents average 41.1 rebounds per game.Â
Two days later, CSUN meets up with Hawai'i for the second and final time in Big West play this season. Last week in Honolulu, senior Ashleigh Karaitiana scored 17 points in the victory over the Matadors and was honored before the game for eclipsing 1,000 career points.Â
Next week, CSUN travels to UC Irvine (Jan. 28, 7 p.m.) and hosts Cal State Fullerton (Jan. 30, 4 p.m.) in a pair of pivotal Big West Conference games.
CSUN Team Notes
- CSUN has scored 297 points in the fourth period this season in 17 games, four more than its opponents and an average of 17.5 per game.
- CSUN has blocked 59 shots on the season, four more than its opponents through 17 games on the season
- Eight different Matadors have either led or tied for the team lead in points in a game at one point this season
- Eleven different Matadors have either led or tied for the team lead in assists in a game at one point this season
- Sophomore Tessa Boagni has scored at least 20 points three times this season, including a career-high 28 points at Portland State
- Boagni ranks 10th among all Big West scorers at 11.9 ppg; she is also shooting 47.7 percent from the field to rank sixth in the league
- Freshman Channon Fluker is averaging 11.0 points and 10.3 rebounds per game over her last four contests
- Fluker ranks sixth in the Big West Conference at 7.0 rebounds per game
- Freshmen Cheyenne Allen set a new career high with 11 rebounds in CSUN's contest with UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 16
- Sophomore Katelin King has averaged 5.0 points per game since returning to the line-up against Seattle
- Junior Emily Cole tied a season high with 14 points against UCSB on Jan. 16, her fourth career game in double-figures
- Sophomore Serafina Maulupe leads the Matadors in both assists (46) and steals (26) on the season
- The Matadors have used 13 different starting line-ups this season
Scouting Cal Poly
- The Cal Poly Mustangs are 9-7 on the season and 2-1 in Big West play after two weeks of the league season
- The Mustangs won at UC Irvine (72-54) and at home against Cal State Fullerton (51-46) last week
- Junior forward Hannah Gilbert leads the Mustangs in scoring (12.8 ppg) and rebounding (9.8 rpg) while shooting 50.8 percent from the field
- Senior guard Beth Balbierz is second on the team at 11.4 ppg and has connected on a team-best 33 3-pointers this season
- Another senior guard, Lisa Marie Sanchez, is averaging 10.1 ppg and leads the Mustangs with 63 assists on the season
- As a team, Cal Poly is shooting 37.6 percent from the field and 31.4 percent from 3-point range while averaging 63.9 points per game
- The Mustangs average 40.8 rebounds, 13 assists and 3.2 blocked shots per game while forcing an average of 19.4 turnovers by its opponents
- CSUN leads the all-time series between the two schools, but the Matadors have won just once (2014) at Cal Poly since 2006
- Faith Mimnaugh is in her 19th season as the head coach of Cal Poly
Scouting Hawai'i
- The Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine enter the week with an 9-8Â overall record and a 2-2 mark in Big West Conference actionÂ
- Last week at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawai'i knocked off CSUN 77-50 before falling to UC Riverside 77-74
- For the season, senior guard Destiny King is leading the team in scoring at 10.3 points per game while shooting 41.8 percent from the field
- Sophomore forward Megan Huff is second on the team at 8.4 ppg and is third on the team in rebounding at 5.6 per gameÂ
- In all, the Rainbow Wahine feature six players that average 5.9 to 8.4 ppg and nine players that average at least 2.0 rebounds per game
- The Rainbow Wahine average 40.5 rebounds per game while holding their opponents to an average of 32.3 rebounds
- Hawai'i leads the all-time series with CSUN 8-3, but the Matadors have won the past two in the series at The Matadome
- Laura Beeman is in her fourth season as the head coach of the Rainbow Wahine
