Fluker Grabs 1000th Career Rebound; Boagni's 25 Leads CSUN Past UCI

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—On a night in which Channon Fluker grabbed her 1,000th career rebound for CSUN, the Matadors withstood a furious second half UC Irvine rally to defeat the Anteaters 71-67 Thursday night.

Fluker recorded her sixth career 20-rebound game with exactly 20 rebounds to raise her career total to 1,011 (already a CSUN record) and is now in eighth place in Big West history in the category.

A 10-2 'Eaters' start was followed by a 11-2 CSUN scoring stretch. The Matadors would take a 18-15 lead after one when Hayley Tanabe sank a three at the first quarter buzzer. Trailing 22-21, Jordan Sanders keyed a 12-4 UCI spurt with six points as the Anteaters took a seven-point lead. A Destiny Brooks' three-point play was at the heart of a 7-0 Matadors' run that tied the game at 33. The score would remain knotted up at 35 heading into halftime.

CSUN started the second half by outscoring UCI 13-5. Fluker grabbed her 1000th rebound on a Morgan Green miss at the 5:56 mark of the third quarter. The Matadors outrebounded the Anteaters 20-5 in the third, outscored UC Irvine 24-13, and led 59-48 with 30 minutes gone.

Green hit two three-pointers on the first three UCI possessions of the fourth quarter to cut the lead from 11 to five, 61-56 with 7:26 to go. Haleigh Talbert's three the next time down further reduced the CSUN advantage to two. Tessa Boagni's put back of a Fluker miss increased the CSUN lead to four. Green drove the lane and was fouled on the ensuing UCI possession. Green made the first free throw attempt but missed the second. The ball went off a Matador, giving UC Irvine the ball.

"Even though Green made two in a row, you have to stay with it," said CSUN head coach Jason Flowers. "There was no time for us to back down and I thought we did a good job of showing some toughness and fight."

Tahlia Garza made a jumper that created a one-point game. The teams traded the ball before Boagni's layup with 4:40 to go stretched the CSUN lead to 65-62. Garza again made it a one-point game with her basket a little under a minute later. The Matadors looked inside for Fluker and she responded with a layup at 2:32. 20 seconds later Sanders connected for a 67-66 game.

The score would remain at 67-66 until CSUN found Boagni in the paint for a layup with 42 seconds remaining. CSUN fouled Deijah Blanks 15 seconds later. Blanks was 1-of-2 from the charity stripe which put the score at 69-67. Under the limit, UCI had to foul twice before sending Hayley Tanabe to the line. The Matadors' point guard was 1-of-2 with 19 seconds left. The Anteaters called timeout and advanced to half court.

Green attempted a deep three-pointer with 10 seconds to play. Talbert got the rebound, but she could not connect on the put back. Boagni grabbed the rebound and was fouled. She made the first free throw attempt before missing the second. Green's final three-point attempt at the buzzer was no good, earning CSUN the victory.

Boagni led all scorers with 25 points and tallied her 12th career double-double with 13 rebounds. Fluker recorded her 52nd career double-double as she added 20 points. The 6-4 center blocked two shots, made two steals, and dished out two assists. Tanabe would chip in with 11 points.

"Tessa was huge," Flowers said. "We challenged her at halftime to get on the boards, especially on the offensive end, and that's exactly what she did. She answered the bell in front of her family who flew in from New Zealand on senior night."

Green was 7-of-27 from the field, 6-of-19 from three-point range for a UCI (17-12, 9-6 BWC) high 23 points. Sanders scored 17. CSUN shot 47.4% (27-of-57) from the floor, compared to 35.8% (24-of-67) for UCI. The Matadors outrebounded the Anteaters 47-31. UC Irvine has now lost four in a row.

"We have to go back and clean up some things on both ends and get better," said Flowers. "We have to come out Saturday against Long Beach State and play hard."

The Matadors (15-14, 8-7 Big West) conclude the regular season Saturday at Long Beach State (7-22, 5-10 Big West). Coverage on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health gets underway at 3:55 for the 4 p.m. tip.

~www.GoMatadors.com~

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Team Stats

Tessa Boagni

Channon Fluker

Hayley Tanabe

Destiny Brooks

Players Mentioned

Tessa Boagni

Destiny Brooks

Channon Fluker

Hayley Tanabe