Fluker Goes 9-9 In Second Half; Matadors Defeat Hawai'i 70-58

HONOLULU—Channon Fluker was 9-of-9 from the field in the second half as she led CSUN to a 70-58 victory over the University of Hawai'i Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. Fluker recorded her fourth career 30 game against UH as she scored a season high 34 points.

The Rainbow Wahine led 21-17 after 10 minutes. The Matadors held Hawai'i without a basket for over three minutes as CSUN used a 9-2 spurt to take a 26-23 lead into the second quarter media timeout. The Matadors would build the lead to 29-23 before Makena Woodfolk's three-point basket at 3:55 would key a 12-2 run that resulted in the Rainbow Wahine leading 35-31 at halftime.

Trailing 41-37 midway through the third quarter, CSUN again used their defense to push out to a lead. Hayley Tanabe scored five points in a 9-0 stretch that put the Matadors up 46-41. Julissa Tago's third three-pointer of the night put a halt to the CSUN momentum. Channon Fluker putback was followed by Woodfolk's third three of the game. The Matadors played for the final shot of the period. Running the clock down to seven seconds, Claudia Ramos sank a three-pointer that created a 51-47 score with 30 minutes in the books.

Fluker charted eight of the first nine CSUN points in the fourth quarter as the Matadors held a 60-57 lead at the final period's media timeout. A Tanabe three-pointer extended the lead to six coming out of the timeout. CSUN would keep the Rainbow Wahine off the board for over four minutes before Sarah Toeaina drew a foul on Fluker with 1:19 to go. She made 1-of-2 for a 63-58 score. Nine seconds later, Tanabe drew a foul. She made both attempts for a seven-point lead.

Despite getting two shots at the basket, Hawai'i could not take advantage. Fluker was fouled getting the rebound of the second miss. The 6-4 center was 1-of-2 from the line. At 66-58, CSUN again got the stop they were looking for. Fluker was again 1-of-2 from the charity stripe. Hawai'i called timeout with 36.8 seconds remaining, down nine. After advancing the ball, the Rainbow Wahine turned the ball over when Tanabe made a steal. She was fouled 9.8 seconds later.

Tanabe connected on 1-of-2 which made it a 10-point game. The Rainbow Wahine called timeout to advance the ball. Tago's three-point attempt was no good. Fluker grabbed her 17th rebound of the game. She was fouled and sank both free throw attempts to further increase the lead. Hawai'i called their final timeout and again turned the ball over. Time would run out with CSUN winning its third consecutive game.

CSUN outscored Hawai'i (8-12, 1-6 Big West) 39-23 in the second half. The Matadors held the Rainbow Wahine to 30% shooting for the game (18-of-60) and outrebounded UH 37-30.

Fluker collected her 44th career-double as she would go 13-of-20 from the floor. She added two assists and two blocks. Tanabe scored 11 points and added three assists. Toeaina led UH with 18 points as she scored her 1,000th for her career.
"We weren't sharp defensively, especially in the first half," said CSUN head coach Jason Flowers. "We made some adjustments as the game moved forward. Obviously holding them to 23 points in the second half was the difference. Hayley's three down the stretch was huge. She made some good decisions and that was the ball game. Channon wasn't very good in the first half. We had a discussion at halftime and she was able to take what we said to her and became much more efficient in the second half. When she is efficient that helps us tremendously."

The Matadors (11-9, 4-2 Big West) travel to UC Irvine (12-8, 4-2 Big West). Tip is set for 2 p.m.

~www.GoMatadors.com~

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Team Stats

Channon Fluker

Hayley Tanabe

Eliza Matthews

Meghann Henderson

Players Mentioned

Channon Fluker

Claudia Ramos

Hayley Tanabe