California State University at Northridge
UC Irvine
Big West Season Continues as CSUN Tangles with Orange County Rivals
1/27/2016 1:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Matadors Meet Anteaters, Titans in Pivotal Contests
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NORTHRIDGE, CA ---
Matadors Meet Up with Anteaters, Titans in Weekly Slate
The CSUN women's basketball team (3-16, 1-4 Big West Conference) plays a pair of pivotal Big West Conference games this week as it meets up with its league rivals from Orange County. On Thursday, Jan. 28, the Matadors face the UC Irvine Anteaters in a 7 p.m. contest at the Bren Events Center. Ghizal Hasan will be calling the action on the CSUN Sports Network and the game will also be featured on BigWest.TV with links at GoMatadors.com. Two days later, CSUN hosts Cal State Fullerton in a 4 p.m. contest at The Matadome. Mark Roberts will be on the call on the CSUN Sports Network and will 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 weekend.Â
Last week, the Matadors played some of their best basketball of the season and nearly came away with a 2-0 record. At Cal Poly, Katelin King hit a big 3-pointer with less than a minute to play to put CSUN ahead. However, the Mustangs connected on one of their own right before the final buzzer and prevailed in overtime. Serafina Maulupe led the Matadors with 16 points while Emily Cole had 12 and Channon Fluker posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.Â
Two days later, things would finally come together for CSUN in a 63-60 victory over Hawai'i. Fluker posted a career-high 31 points and 11 field goals to go with 11 rebounds as the Matadors snapped an eight-game losing streak. For her efforts, Fluker was named Big West Conference Player of the Week.Â
This week brings a pair of important tests for the Matadors in the forms of the Anteaters and Titans. UCI defeated Cal State Fullerton 62-58 on Jan. 23 to give it some separation in the standings. Junior Mokun Fajemisin leads the Anteaters in scoring and rebounding. Cal State Fullerton is 0-5 in Big West play but features several of the top rookies in the league in Michelle Berry, Dani Craig and Jade Vega. The Titans play at Hawai'i on Thursday night before coming to the San Fernando Valley.Â
Next week, CSUN hits the road twice for league games. The Matadors play at Long Beach State on Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. and the travel to UC Riverside on Feb. 6 for a 4 p.m. game. The CSUN-UCR tilt will be featured on ESPN3.Â
CSUN Team Notes
- CSUN will be featured on ESPN3 broadcasts at UC Riverside on Feb. 6 and at home against Cal Poly on Feb. 20Â
- The Matadors have made 96 3-pointers through 19 games this season, an average of 5.1 per contest.
- CSUN has scored 337 points in the fourth period this season in 19 games, 13 more than its opponents and an average of 17.7 per game.
- Sophomore Tessa Boagni has scored at least 20 points three times this season, including a career-high 28 points at Portland State
- Freshman Channon Fluker is averaging 13.0 points and 9.6 rebounds per game in Big West Conference play
- Fluker has 24 offensive rebounds in five Big West Conference games, an average of just less than five per contest.
- 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 hit a 3-pointer in all six games since returning from injury and is averaging 5.8 ppg
- Junior Emily Cole has scored in double-figures three times in 2015-16, one more than she totaled in her first two seasons
- Sophomore Serafina Maulupe leads the Matadors in both assists (51) and steals (27) on the season
- Freshman Nautica Morrow is shooting 39.3 percent from the field in Big West play, nearly 70 points higher than her shooting percentage for the season.
Scouting UC Irvine
- The UC Irvine Anteaters enter Thursday's contest with a 4-16 overall record and a 1-5 mark in Big West Conference play
- The Anteaters snapped an 11-game losing streak with a 62-58 victory over Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 23
- Junior forward Mokun Fajemisin led UCI with 14 points and seven rebounds against the Titans
- Fajemisin leads the team in scoring (9.4 points) and rebounding (7.5 rebounds) per game
- Freshman Andrea Ritter (9.0 ppg) and junior Shereen Sutherland (8.8 ppg) are second and third on the squad in scoring, respectively
- Senior guard Raelyn Cheung-Sutton leads the Big West Conference with 126 assists on the year
- As a team, the Anteaters shoot 35.5 percent from the field for the season and 37.3 percent in six Big West games
- UCI averages 37.4 rebounds, 12.9 assists and 17.4 turnovers per game for the season
- CSUN has won the past three meeting with UCI, but the Anteaters swept the season series as recently as the 2013-14 campaign
- Dough Oliver is in his fourth season as the head coach of UC Irvine
Scouting Cal State Fullerton
- The Cal State Fullerton Titans are 2-17 on the season and 0-5 in Big West Conference play
- The Titans travel to Hawai'i for a game against the Rainbow Wahine on Thursday, Jan. 28 before coming to The San Fernando Valley Saturday
- Last week, the Titans lost 62-57 at Long Beach State and 62-58 at home against UC IrvineÂ
- Freshmen lead the way for Cal State Fullerton, ranking as the team's top three leading scorers
- Michelle Berry leads the team in scoring and rebounding at 14.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game
- Dani Craig is averaging 10.6 points and is second on the team with 42 3-pointers
- Jade Vega is averaging 8.0 ppg and leads the squad with 62 assistsÂ
- As a team, CSUF averages 35.5 rebounds, 11.1 assists and 18.7 turnovers per game
- The Titans shoot 36.7 percent from the field and 30.7 percent from 3-point range for the seasonÂ
- CSUN has won the last nine meetings in the series between the two schoolsÂ
- Darren Park is in his third season as the head coach of the Titans
