CSUN Hosts Warner Center Thanksgiving Basketball Classic

Women's Basketball Notebook

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—The CSUN women's basketball team hosts the 10th annual Warner Center Marriott Thanksgiving Basketball Classic this weekend.

The tournament begins Friday night. In the first semifinal, Harvard faces Jacksonville State at 5 p.m. The Matadors will take on Washington State in the other semifinal at 7:30 p.m. If Jacksonville State wins, the championship game on Saturday will be at 3:30 p.m. If JSU loses, the championship game will be the second game at 6 p.m.

Both CSUN games will be streamed on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health with Kevin Strauss on the call. The pregame show will begin 10 minutes prior to the scheduled tip.

Admission is free to all of the games this weekend as CSUN attempts to pack the CSUN Food Pantry. Fans are asked to bring canned goods to the game to help with stocking the CSUN Food Pantry.

The Warner Center Marriott Thanksgiving Basketball Classic was established in a single-game format on Nov. 27, 2009 when Northern Colorado defeated CSUN 79-42. The Matadors have won the tournament in 2011 and again in 2014. CSUN finished third last season, defeating Arizona 66-63 before TCU defeated Idaho 86-76 in the finals.

Washington State is 1-3 after losing 75-62 to UC Davis on Sunday. Borislava Hristova is 13th in Division I in scoring as she is scoring 24.0 points per game in four starts this season.

Two other players, Chanelle Molina (15.0) and Alexys Swedlund (10.3) are scoring in double figure per game while Maria Kostourkova is scoring 8.5 points per game and averaging 11.5 rebounds per game. This is the fourth time that CSUN and Washington State are playing with the Cougars leading the all-time series 3-0.

Harvard brings a 2-2 record to Northridge after defeating Siena 73-54 on the road last Friday night. Four players score in double figures, led by Sydney Skinner who is scoring 13.8 points per game. Jadyn Bush is second on the team in scoring (11.5) and leads the squad in rebounding (9.5). Katie Benzan is scoring at 10.3 ppg clip and paces Harvard in assists with 17. This would be the first time that CSUN and Harvard are playing women's basketball against each other.

Jacksonsville State enters the tournament this weekend with a 2-1 record. The Gamecocks defeated Lipscomb 58-46 last Saturday as JSU has played all three of its games so far this season on the road.

Taylor Hawks is the team's leading scorer at 12.0 points per game. Rayven Pearson is second on the Gamecocks in scoring (10.0) and leads the team in rebounding (7.7). This would be the first time that CSUN and Jacksonville State are playing women's basketball against each other.

CSUN split a pair of games in the Midwest last week. Led by Serafina Maulupe and Hayley Tanabe who combined to go 8-for-11 from three-point range, the Matadors defeated Omaha 64-52 last Friday night. Maulupe would end the night with 16 points while Tanabe had 14.

CSUN dropped a 73-63 decision at Drake on Sunday. Destiny Brooks led the Matadors with 15 points as she connected on five three-pointers. Channon Fluker recorded her 58th career double-double as she scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds in only 18 minutes due to foul trouble.

~www.GoMatadors.com~

CSUN Hosts Warner Center Thanksgiving Basketball Classic

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Players Mentioned

Destiny Brooks

Channon Fluker

Serafina Maulupe

Hayley Tanabe