CSUN Defeats BIg West Leader UC Davis 75-71 In Overtime

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—CSUN broke UC Davis' 18-game Big West Conference women's basketball winning streak Saturday night as the Matadors defeated the Aggies 75-71 in overtime.

UC Davis battled back from a 12-point third quarter deficit to tie the game four times in the final stanza. The Aggies made it 62-62 with 1:48 to play when Morgan Bertsch hit a jumper in the paint. CSUN worked the ball down to Channon Fluker in the paint. Fluker was rushed on the shot and missed. The ball went out of bounds off a UCD player. CSUN couldn't take advantage as the Matadors committed a turnover. UC Davis called timeout with 52 seconds remaining. The Aggies drained the clock to 37 seconds before Pele Gianotti, the Big West's leading three-point shooter was long on an attempt. Fluker grabbed the rebound, allowing the Matadors to call timeout.

CSUN played for the last shot, running the clock down to seven seconds when Tessa Bogani missed a jumper. Claudia Ramos got the rebound. She put up a shot at the buzzer that was no good, sending the game into overtime. The Matadors' point guard, Hayley Tanabe scored on the first two possessions of the extra frame. Down four, Marty Anderson cut into the CSUN lead with a three-pointer to create a 65-64 game.

Fluker scored the next time down for the Matadors. After getting a stop, Fluker scored again to put CSUN up 70-65. Fluker fouled out for the first time since Feb. 18, 2017 with 2:10 to play attempting to guard Morgan Bertsch. Bertsch went to the free throw line and made both attempts. The game remained 70-67 until 1:01 to play when Kourtney Eaton connected on a pair of free throws for a 70-69 score.

Lauren Shymkewicz, who replaced Fluker in the lineup for the Matadors, made a layup with 39 seconds remaining to put CSUN back up by three. UC Davis called a timeout, setting up a play for Nafekh. Attempting to tie the game, Nafkeh's attempt was blocked by Boagni. The ball went off an CSUN player, giving the Aggies the ball. Boagni stole the ball from Nafekh who was trying to inbound the ball. Boagni called timeout, allowing the Matadors to advance the ball.

Meghann Henderson was fouled with 22 seconds to go. The CSUN guard made both of her attempts to increase the lead up to five. UCD went to Bertsch in the low block and came away with a basket three seconds later. She was fouled on the play, but she could not make the free throw with Boagni coming away with the rebound. CSUN called timeout with 16 seconds remaining.

The Matadors inbounded the ball in which a scrum ensued. CSUN finally came away with possession. Tanabe was fouled with eight seconds on the clock. The Matadors' point guard made 1-of-2 free throws. UC Davis (18-4, 8-1 Big West) called their final timeout which resulted in an Eaton miss at the buzzer.

"I thought today was a pretty good team effort, playing against a well-coach team such as UC Davis," said CSUN head coach Jason Flowers. "They compete at a high level and are really efficient offensively. For our kids to regroup and respond after UC Davis tied the game up showed a lot for our group. We have grown a lot over the past couple of weeks and its back to the drawing board. Long Beach State is going to come here ready to play hard and we are going to have to meet that challenge."

With her second 20-rebound performance of the year, Fluker became the all-time leading rebounder at CSUN. She ended the game with 935, breaking the previous record of 923 which was held by Denise Sutton (1982-87), The 6-4 center had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the first half to record her 47th career double-double. She ended the night with 22 points. Boagni tallied her 16th career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. She tied her career high with three steals. Ramos scored 12 points while Henderson had 11 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. Tanabe posted nine points and seven assists.

Bertsch led all scorers with 25 points. She grabbed eight rebounds and had three assists. Gianotti charted 11 points and seven rebounds while Anderson added 10 points.

CSUN (13-10, 6-3 Big West) hosts Long Beach State (2-19, 0-9 Big West) Thursday night. Coverage on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health begins at 6:55 with Eric Kaback's pre-game show. Tip is set for 7 p.m.

~www.GoMatadors.com~

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Team Stats

Channon Fluker

Tessa Boagni

Claudia Ramos

Meghann Henderson

Players Mentioned

Channon Fluker

Meghann Henderson

Claudia Ramos

Lauren Shymkewicz

Hayley Tanabe