CSUN Drops 65-50 Decision to Cal State Fullerton

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—Cal State Fullerton defeated CSUN 65-50 in the Big West Women's Basketball home opener for the Matadors Thursday night at the Matadome.

FIRST HALF
Led by Kathryn Neff who scored all her 10 points in the first quarter, the Titans jumped out to a 16-10 lead. Cal State Fullerton shot 50% (7-14) in the opening frame as Neff was 4-for-6 from the field, 2-of-4 from three-point range. The Matadors slowed down the Titans from the outside in the second half, but CSUN was whistled for 10 personal fouls. The Matador foul trouble resulted in Cal State Fullerton heading to the free throw line 14 times with the Titans taking a 33-23 lead into halftime.

SECOND HALF
A Jordyn Jackson field goal a minute into the third quarter cut the Cal State Fullerton advantage to 35-28. The Titans responded with a 14-2 run that broke the game open. The Titans made 8-of-13 field goal attempts in the third quarter to gain a 54-32 lead after three quarters. Cal State Fullerton took its largest lead of the game, 59-34 shortly after the fourth quarter got underway. CSUN didn't give in as the Matadors used a 16-4 spurt over the next 6+ minutes to cut the lead to 63-50 on a pair of Olivia Smith free throws with 1:13 to play. Ashlee Lewis scored the final points of the game with a basket for the Titans with 37 seconds remaining for the final 65-50 score.

ACCORDING TO INTERIM HEAD COACH CARLENE MITCHELL
"I didn't think we came out without a sense of urgency, and we must give credit to Cal State Fullerton. They were the aggressors and set the tone. We didn't lock in and play disciplined defense early which sent them to the free throw line often in the first half. I think for the most part we took good shots or shots within our actions. They just didn't fall. Cal State Fullerton did a great job of keeping (Kayanna) Spriggs off the glass which made it hard for us to get any second chance opportunities."

THE NUMBERS
Cal State Fullerton (6-6, 1-1 Big West) shot 48% (24-for-50) in the game while holding CSUN 31% (18-of-58) for the night. After posting 14 free throw attempts in the first half, the Titans only went to the charity stripe three times in the second and were 11-of-17 for the game. CSUN was 9-of-16 from the free throw line. In addition to Neff, three other Cal State Fullerton players scored in double figures. Lily Wahinekapu had 12 while Ashlee Lewis charted 11. Fujika Nimmo recorded 10. Jackson led CSUN in scoring with 10 points.

NOTES
CSUN, which entered the game 27th in Division I in steals (11.0 spg) recorded 15, marking the ninth time in 12 games in which CSUN posted at least 10 steals in a game…the Matadors forced 21 Cal State Fullerton turnovers…Thursday was only the second time in the last 21 games in which Cal State Fullerton defeated CSUN…the all-time series is now tied at 29.

UP NEXT
CSUN (5-7, 1-1 Big West) hosts conference leader Long Beach State (10-1, 3-0 Big West) Saturday afternoon. Coverage on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/radio begins at 2 p.m. with Jill Painter Lopez on the call.

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Team Stats

Jordyn Jackson

Tess Amundsen

Sydney Woodley

Rachel Harvey

Players Mentioned

Jordyn Jackson

Olivia Smith