CSUN Travels To No. 11 Oregon To Open WNIT Friday

Women's Basketball Notebook

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—CSUN opens the 2017-18 women's basketball season Friday night when the Matadors travel to No. 11 Oregon in the first round of the preseason WNIT. Tip is set for 5 p.m. Coverage will be available via the Oregon live stream on Pac-12.com. The Ducks will also have an audio broadcast via the Oregon IMG Network via Tune-In. All links can be found on GoMatadors.com on the women's basketball schedule page.

The winner of the CSUN-Oregon game will face the winner of the matchup between Drake and Milwaukee. Here is the breakdown of the Preseason WNIT schedule and matchups;

First Round Winners
The eight Round One winners will continue on in traditional bracket play, with half of them hosting the other half in separate host sites. The winning teams will continue on, with separate host sites throughout the semifinals and championship. The two teams in the championship game will play four games in the tournament.

Round 1 Losers
The eight teams that lose their first games will be re-grouped into "Consolation bracket quads," which will be two four-team pools. The teams may be re-shuffled from their original sides of the bracket, so they could play any other first-round loser in the tournament. One team in each pool is selected to host the other three teams. Each team will play two games for a total of three in the tournament. These are called Consolation Rounds 1 and 2.

Round 2 Losers (from original bracket)
Of the four Round 2/quarterfinal losing teams, two teams will be selected to host one of the other quarterfinal round losers in a single game at separate sites. The teams may be re-shuffled from their original sides of the bracket, so they could play any other Round 2 loser in the tournament. This game provides the third game for each of these schools. This round is Consolation Round 3.

2017 Dates
The Preseason WNIT always begins on the first Friday of the regular season.
Round 1 – Friday, Nov. 10 or Saturday, Nov. 11.
Round 2 – Sunday, Nov. 12 through Tuesday, Nov. 14.
Semifinals – Thursday, Nov. 16.
Championship – Sunday, Nov. 19.
Consolation Rounds 1&2 – Friday, Nov. 17 and Saturday, Nov. 18.
Consolation Round 3 – Friday, Nov. 17 or Saturday, Nov. 18.

A 2017 NCAA Tournament participant, Oregon is ranked 11th in the preseason AP Top 25 poll. The Ducks (23-14) reached the Elite 8 for the first time. Oregon was picked second in the 2017-18 Pac-12 women's basketball preseason coaches' poll. The Ducks and Stanford tied for second with 108 points in the poll behind first place UCLA. The Ducks return all five starters from last season's team, including all-Pac-12 selections Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard.

Ionescu, was named 2017 ESPNW, USBWA National, and Pac-12 Freshman of the year. Hebard led the Pac-12 and ranked 15th in the nation, shooting 58.8 percent from the field last year. The forward averaged a team-high 14.9 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. This is the third time that CSUN and Oregon are going to match up in women's basketball. The Ducks lead the all-time series 2-0.

CSUN is picked second in both the Big West Conference media and Big West Conference coaches preseason women's basketball polls released on Oct. 25. The Matadors received two first place votes in both polls, trailing 2017 Big West regular season champion UC Davis. CSUN earned 69 points in the coaches' poll, compared to six first place votes and 77 points for the Aggies. The Matadors charted 148 points in the media poll as UC Davis got 16 first place votes and 166 points.

Channon Fluker was chosen preseason All-Conference by both the media and the coaches. Fluker, the 2017 Big West Conference Player of the Year, became the second player in Big West history to lead the league in points per game (18.0), rebounds per game (12.0), and blocks per game (2.3) a year ago. The 6-4 center was also fourth in the nation in double-doubles (21) and third in rebounding in 2016-17.

Fluker was one of five CSUN players to score in double figures in the Matadors' 83-65 exhibition victory over The Master's University Oct. 28. Fluker scored 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds against the Mustangs. Tessa Boagni scored 14 points and had seven rebounds. Lauren Shymkewicz charted 13 points and 12 rebounds while Serafina Maulupe tallied 13. Taylor Nate posted 10 for the Matadors.

~www.GoMatadors.com~

CSUN Travels To No. 11 Oregon To Open WNIT Friday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tessa Boagni

Channon Fluker

Serafina Maulupe

Taylor Nate

Lauren Shymkewicz