CSUN Hosts UCD On ESPN 3 Thurs; At Long Beach Sat

Women's Basketball Notebook

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—A pair of important early season women's basketball games are on the docket for CSUN this week. In a rematch of the 2018 Big West Conference Tournament final and a game in which both teams are tied for the early lead in the Big West (3-1), the Matadors host UC Davis Thursday night.

The game will be streamed on ESPN 3 and also be available on the Watch ESPN App. Trent Rush will serve as the play-by-play announcer, Richie Schueler is on color while Courtney Sweet will be the sideline reporter.

Eric Kaback's audio only pre-game show on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health gets underway at 6:50 p.m. Tip is set for 7:03 p.m. Thursday's game is part of the CSUN Athletic Days and Youth Team Days' promotions. CSUN Gameday T-Shirts are also scheduled to be given out.

UC Davis moved into a tie for first in the Big West with CSUN on Saturday when the Aggies defeated UC Irvine 80-57. UC Davis is 11-6. Morgan Bertsch scored 29 against the Anteaters, marking the sixth consecutive game in which she scored at least 20 and the 12th time this year she has posted at least 20 in game.

With a 24.5 ppg average, Bertsch leads the conference and is fourth in Division I in the category. Bertsch is now seventh in league history in scoring with 2,084 points. Including the victory in the Big West Conference Tournament finals, the Matadors defeated UC Davis in overtime in Northridge a year ago. The Aggies held the home court in Davis as UCD leads the all-time series 24-17.

The Matadors (9-9) travel to Long Beach State Saturday for a 4 p.m. start. The game will be streamed on BigWest.tv. Kaback's pregame show begins at 3:50 p.m.

Long Beach State had a four-game winning streak snapped Saturday when the Beach dropped a 60-54 decision at UC Santa Barbara. The 49ers are 5-11, and are tied for third in the conference with Cal State Fullerton at 2-1. Long Beach State hosts UC Riverside Thursday night before welcoming the Matadors to the Walter Pyramid.

Shanaijah Davison is fifth in the league in scoring at a 14.1 per game clip. Naomi Hunt is third in the BWC in three-point shooting (.438) and third in made three-point field goals per game (2.0). Justina King is ninth in the Big West in steals (1.8) and 10th in assists (2.8). Long Beach State and CSUN began playing women's basketball against each other in 1963. The 49ers lead the all-time series 42-18 after sweeping both games in 2017-18.

CSUN guard Serafina Maulupe became the 13th CSUN women's basketball player to score at least 1000 points with a jumper at the 6:08 mark of the second quarter during the 49-29 victory at Hawai'i Jan. 17.

She is the 146th women's basketball player in Big West history to reach the 1000-point plateau. Maulupe has scored 1,015 points in a Matador uniform.

Maulupe tied current CSUN assistant coach Ashlee Guay for first in school history in made three-pointers with three against UC Riverside Jan. 19. Both have made 170 three-pointers in their respective CSUN careers. Maulupe is second in school history in career three-point field goal attempts (490), and ninth in career three-point field goal percentage (.347).

The CSUN defense stepped to the forefront during the 49-29 victory at Hawai'i. The 29 points allowed are the second fewest given up by a CSUN team since moving to Division I prior to the 1990-91 season. The Rainbow Wahine scored just six points in each of the first three quarters, which is the sixth fewest allowed by the Matadors in a game since women's basketball went to the format in 2015.

CSUN allowed 12 Hawai'i field goals during the game, the third fewest by a Matador opponent at the Division I level. The Rainbow Wahine shot 22.2% for the game (12-of-54), the fifth lowest in a game by a CSUN Division I opponent.

Hawai'i was 2-of-4 from the free throw line during the game. The four free throw attempts are second fewest by a Matador Division I foe while the two made free throws are the fourth fewest by a CSUN opponent.

The defensive efforts continued against UC Riverside Jan. 19. CSUN allowed only six Highlander points in the first quarter. The Matadors limited the Highlanders to 29.4% shooting (20-of-68) for the game, marking the fourth time this season, a CSUN foe has shot under 30% in a game.

~www.GoMatadors.com~

CSUN Hosts UCD On ESPN 3 Thurs; At Long Beach Sat

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Players Mentioned

Serafina Maulupe