Friday, March 10
Anaheim, Calif.
2:30 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
18-14
60
vs
61
Long Beach State
22-10
1
2
3
4
F
CSUN
15
20
13
12
60
Long Beach State
20
16
12
13
61
Team Stats
CSUN
LBSU
FG%
.367
.344
3FG%
.250
.320
FT%
.792
.733
RB
43
31
TO
21
11
STL
4
13
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
11
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
Long Beach State Edges CSUN in Big West Tournament Semifinal
3/10/2017 8:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Matadors Finish Season 18-14 Overall, Posting 11 More Wins than Last Year
ANAHEIM, Calif. --- The CSUN women's basketball team (18-14) lost 61-60 to Long Beach State Friday afternoon in a Big West Tournament Semifinal at the Honda Center. Trailing by eight late in the game, CSUN mounted a furious rally over the final four minutes of action but fell one point short in their comeback effort against the 49ers. While eliminated from contention for an NCAA Tournament berth, the Matadors are a potential candidate for the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) and will find out their fate on Monday evening.Â
After playing to a 48-48 tie through 30 minutes of action, the teams played a spirited fourth quarter that came down to the final moments. The 49ers went on a 9-3 run to take a 61-53 lead with 4:32 left to play. From there, senior Emily Cole made two free throws and sophomore Channon Fluker, the 2016-17 Big West Player of the Year, went to work and scored five-straight points to draw CSUN to within 61-60.Â
After LBSU missed a jumper and Hayley Tanabe grabbed the defensive rebound, the Matadors advanced the ball into the front court and called time out with six seconds left to play. CSUN ran a play into the right corner, but the 3-point attempt sailed just wide at the buzzer.Â
Fluker led the team with 17 points and 11 rebounds, her 21st double-double of the season. Through 32 games, Fluker averaged an even 18 points and 12 rebounds per game while shooting 53.5 percent from the field. She also averaged 2.4 blocked shots and is the first player in Big West Conference history to lead the league in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots since the 1990-91 season. Her 11 boards give her 383 for the season, the sixth-most in league history for a single season. Â
Junior Serafina Maulupe scored 11 points and added five rebound and two assists. Fellow junior Tessa Boagni came off the bench to add 11 points, including a career-high seven free throws. She had four rebounds, a block and a steal while Tanabe added eight points, seven rebounds and four assists.Â
Long Beach State jumped out to a 17-11 lead late in the first quarter following a 10-1 run. CSUN responded with baskets from Maulupe and Fluker to close to within 20-15 at the end of the frame. In the second quarter, Tanabe scored all eight of her points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and late buckets again from Maulupe and Fluker drew CSUN to within 36-35 at halftime.Â
The third quarter was costly for CSUN as Fluker picked up three fouls in the frame, including two in the first three minutes. Still, the teams could not get much separation from each other as CSUN briefly led 44-43 after a three-point play from Boagni. She hit a pair of free throws to tie the game and set up the dramatic fourth quarter.Â
As a team, CSUN shot 36.7 percent from the field (18-of-49) and 25 percent (5-of-20) from 3-point range. The Matadors held a 43-31 rebounding advantage and scored 22 points in the paint and 22 second-chance points. Turnovers hurt however as 21 Matador miscues resulted in 25 points for LBSU.Â
At 18-14, the Matadors posted 11 more wins and 10 fewer loss than they had in the 2016-17 season. In addition to Fluker's individual honors, Eliza Matthews was the 2016-17 Big West Freshman of the Year and Maulupe received Second Team All-Big West honors.Â
After playing to a 48-48 tie through 30 minutes of action, the teams played a spirited fourth quarter that came down to the final moments. The 49ers went on a 9-3 run to take a 61-53 lead with 4:32 left to play. From there, senior Emily Cole made two free throws and sophomore Channon Fluker, the 2016-17 Big West Player of the Year, went to work and scored five-straight points to draw CSUN to within 61-60.Â
After LBSU missed a jumper and Hayley Tanabe grabbed the defensive rebound, the Matadors advanced the ball into the front court and called time out with six seconds left to play. CSUN ran a play into the right corner, but the 3-point attempt sailed just wide at the buzzer.Â
Fluker led the team with 17 points and 11 rebounds, her 21st double-double of the season. Through 32 games, Fluker averaged an even 18 points and 12 rebounds per game while shooting 53.5 percent from the field. She also averaged 2.4 blocked shots and is the first player in Big West Conference history to lead the league in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots since the 1990-91 season. Her 11 boards give her 383 for the season, the sixth-most in league history for a single season. Â
Junior Serafina Maulupe scored 11 points and added five rebound and two assists. Fellow junior Tessa Boagni came off the bench to add 11 points, including a career-high seven free throws. She had four rebounds, a block and a steal while Tanabe added eight points, seven rebounds and four assists.Â
Long Beach State jumped out to a 17-11 lead late in the first quarter following a 10-1 run. CSUN responded with baskets from Maulupe and Fluker to close to within 20-15 at the end of the frame. In the second quarter, Tanabe scored all eight of her points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and late buckets again from Maulupe and Fluker drew CSUN to within 36-35 at halftime.Â
The third quarter was costly for CSUN as Fluker picked up three fouls in the frame, including two in the first three minutes. Still, the teams could not get much separation from each other as CSUN briefly led 44-43 after a three-point play from Boagni. She hit a pair of free throws to tie the game and set up the dramatic fourth quarter.Â
As a team, CSUN shot 36.7 percent from the field (18-of-49) and 25 percent (5-of-20) from 3-point range. The Matadors held a 43-31 rebounding advantage and scored 22 points in the paint and 22 second-chance points. Turnovers hurt however as 21 Matador miscues resulted in 25 points for LBSU.Â
At 18-14, the Matadors posted 11 more wins and 10 fewer loss than they had in the 2016-17 season. In addition to Fluker's individual honors, Eliza Matthews was the 2016-17 Big West Freshman of the Year and Maulupe received Second Team All-Big West honors.Â
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