Vandals Hold Off CSUN 80-75

NORTHRDIGE, Calif.—Taylor Pierce's three-pointer with 46 seconds remaining turned back a furious CSUN rally as Idaho defeated the Matadors 80-75 in the semifinals of the Warner Center Marriott Thanksgiving Basketball Classic Friday night.

Idaho connected on 10-of-20 first half three-point attempts to take a 48-35 lead into halftime. Geraldine McCorkell was 7-of-9 from the field in the first half for 17 points to pace the Vandals. Idaho made 10-of-15 first quarter field goal attempts and shot 58.1% (18-of-31) in the first half.

"Hats off to Idaho, they shot the ball very well, especially in the first half," said CSUN head coach Jason Flowers. "We knew what changes we had to make at halftime and I thought we were better in the second half defensively."

CSUN began the third quarter by making six of their first nine shot attempts to cut the Idaho lead to 54-48 entering the media timeout. The Matadors would outscore the Vandals 25-16 in the third to make it a 64-60 game. A Meghann Henderson jumper cut the Idaho lead to two 14 seconds into the fourth period. Mikayla Ferenz responded with a layup on the first Vandals' possession of the frame at the 9:36 mark. The teams went nearly two minutes without scoring before Ferenz was fouled. She made a pair of free throws to extend the Idaho advantage. A little over a minute later, Eliza Matthews hit a short jumper for the Matadors. CSUN got a stop before Channon Fluker's jumper created a two-point game. With 3:59 remaining, Nejra Solo was fouled. The 6-5 center made her first free throw attempt but missed the second, McCorkell got the rebound and her put back made it 71-66. Fluker and McCorkell traded scores. Trailing 73-68, Fluker scored five straight points including a three-point play to tie the score with 82 seconds remaining.

Idaho called timeout and set up a play for Taylor Pierce who sank a long three-pointer with 46 ticks left on the clock. The Matadors called timeout and advanced the ball to half court. Henderson drove the lane on the inbounds but missed. McCorkell grabbed the rebound for the Vandals. CSUN was under the limit so the Matadors fouled on back-to-back plays to eventually send McCorkell to the free throw line. She made both of her attempts at the 23-second mark. The Matadors would fail to score on their next possession. Alion Kirby was fouled and she sank both of her free throw attempts with seven seconds remaining. A Henderson layup at the buzzer created the final 80-75 score.

CSUN limited the Vandals to 37% (10-of-27) shooting in the second half. Idaho would end the night with a 48.3 field goal percentage (28-of-58). The Matadors were 50% from the floor at 30-of-60. The Vandals were 13-of-31 (3-of-11 in the second half) for 41.9% from beyond the three-point arc. This compared to 8-of-25 for CSUN (32%). The Matadors outrebounded Idaho 34-30, but the Vandals held a 16-15 lead in the category at halftime.

"There were a couple of possessions down the stretch in which Idaho got offensive rebounds that extended the play for them," Flowers said. "Those are the things we have to get better at and shore up. We will go back to the drawing board and watch the film on a very good Arizona team and be ready to play tomorrow.

Idaho (2-2) will take on TCU (4-1) in the finals of the tournament on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Horned Frogs defeated Arizona 68-59 in the other semifinals Friday night. CSUN (0-5) will face the Wildcats (2-2) at 5 p.m. in the third-place game Saturday.

~www.GoMatadors.com~

Next Event

Team Stats

Tessa Boagni

Serafina Maulupe

Meghann Henderson

Channon Fluker

Players Mentioned

Channon Fluker

Meghann Henderson

Eliza Matthews