CSUN Holds Off San Diego State 77-74

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—CSUN withstood a furious San Diego State fourth quarter rally to defeat the Aztecs 77-74 Sunday afternoon.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: CSUN 77, San Diego State 74
LOCATION: The Matadome, Northridge, Calif.
RECORDS: CSUN 5-6, SDSU 5-5

HOW IT HAPPENED

CSUN opened the game on a 14-3 run as the Aztecs missed 10 of their first 11 field goal attempts. The Matadors would limit SDSU to 2-of-18 shooting in the first quarter as would lead 23-7 after 10 minutes.
CSUN connected on six of 11 first half three-point attempts, leading by as many as 21 in the opening frame. Serafina Maulupe made three three-pointers to score 11 in the first half as the Matadors would take a 38-21 lead into the break.
San Diego State began the second half by sinking four of its first eight field goal attempts. As a result, the Aztecs forced the Matadors to call timeout leading 43-31 with 6:05 remaining in the third quarter. Out of the timeout freshman Jordyn Jackson sank her third three-point of the game to push the advantage back to 15. The Matadors took a 59-40 lead into the final 10 minutes.
After CSUN scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to take 63-40 lead, SDSU called timeout with 9:27 to go. The Aztecs came out of the timeout with an 14-2 run that was capped off by a Naje Murray drive to the lane.
A Channon Fluker layup extended the CSUN lead back to 13 at 4:51. The Aztecs responded with eight straight points including back-to-back three-pointers from Sophia Ramos that made 67-62 with 3:16 to play. Sparked by a Jackson three-pointer, CSUN pushed the eight to 72-64 with just under two minutes left.
Off a Matador turnover, a Ramos three-pointer at the 1:09 mark reduced the CSUN lead to 72-67. The Matadors again turned the ball over and committed a foul. Kennedl Villa hit both attempts from the charity stripe to create a 72-69 score. SDSU fouled Jackson on the inbounds pass. She would go 1-of-2 from the free throw line.
A Murray drive on the ensuing SDSU possession cut it to 73-71. With 33 seconds remaining, Ramos would foul Maulupe who completed two free throws for a two possession game.
After a SDSU timeout, Ramos' three with 28.1 seconds reduced the Matadors' lead to one. The Aztecs used their final timeout. Ramos again fouled Maulupe to send her to the free throw line with 26 seconds remaining. She made both for a 77-74 score.
San Diego State quickly pushed the ball. With the Matadors switching on all of the screens the Aztecs were using, Fluker ended up on Ramos at the three-point line. The Matador center tallied her 11th block of the night on Ramos' attempt. The rebound ended up in Maulupe's hands. She was fouled by Murray.
Maulupe missed both of her free throw attempts as six seconds remained. The Aztecs got the ball in the hands of Ramos who again was guarded by Fluker on the perimeter. Ramos' heave at the buzzer fell short, securing the win for the Matadors.

FOR CSUN

Maulupe paced CSUN with a season high 22 points. Maulupe tied her career high with seven assists and she added four rebounds.
Fluker charted her 63rd career double-double as she scored 18 points and blocked 11 shots. She nearly turned in her second career triple-double as she grabbed seven rebounds. Fluker added three assists and one steal.
Jackson, a freshman, recorded a season high 16 points. She was 5-of-7 from three-point range. Jackson also dished out five assists.

FOR SDSU

The Aztecs outscored CSUN 34-18 in the fourth quarter, making 6-of-10 three-point attempts. SDSU was 11-of-23 from the floor in the fourth quarter, raising their shooting percentage for the game to 33.8% (24-of-71).
Ramos led all scorers with 28 points, 18 of which came in the final 10 minutes. She would end the night 10-of-24 from the field. Ramos also registered seven rebounds and two assists.
Murray scored 19 points, nabbed seven rebounds, and posted three assists. Mallory Addams would put up a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds.

ACCORDING TO COACH JASON FLOWERS

"San Diego State didn't really change anything from the first half to the second half to be honest. SDSU played with more intensity in the second half. There was no reason for the game to have been closed out sooner than it was. It was an awful defense, awful execution, awful coaching. It was awful in the fourth quarter. We have to understand time and score. We have to understand once you take a lead and increase it."
"Channon's size gave Ramos a problem on the last possession. We knew that they were going to go to her and we needed to at least have her take a contested three. Ramos had nothing had been really contested up until that point, she was making them at will with a lot of space."
"The most important part of this week coming up is our kids taking finals and finishing off the semester strong. This week will serve as time for the kids who need rest and fine tune some things before go on the road and play a tough USC team."

The Matadors return to action next Sunday as CSUN travels to 8-0 USC. Kevin Strauss' audio only coverage on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health begins at 1:50 p.m. Pac-12.com will stream the game beginning at 2 p.m.

~www.GoMatadors.com~

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Team Stats

Serafina Maulupe

Channon Fluker

Jordyn Jackson

Destiny Brooks

Players Mentioned

Channon Fluker

Jordyn Jackson

Serafina Maulupe