CSUN Kicks Off 50th Season This Week, Facing La Sierra and Utah State

Monday, November 4

Northridge, Calif.

6:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

La Sierra

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Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Kicks Off 50th Season This Week, Facing La Sierra and Utah State

11/3/2024 10:23:00 AM | Women's Basketball

GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Women's Basketball opens its 50th season this week with two games on tap. The Matadors host the 2024-25 opener on Monday night taking on La Sierra at 6 p.m. on ESPN+ before heading to Utah State on Friday at 5 p.m. on Mountain West Network.

HOW TO FOLLOW
All 14 CSUN home games this season will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Jill Painter Lopez returning for her fourth season to call Matador games. For road games, related links to video stream and live stats will be posted on the women's basketball schedule page at GoMatadors.com. Fans are also encouraged to check the CSUN Women's Basketball team's official X feed @CSUNWBB for updates of games in progress and news and notes.

A NEW ERA IN CSUN BASKETBALL
Head coach Angie Ned enters her first season at the helm of the Matadors in 2024-25 as she is the 15th head coach in the history of the program. She joins the Matadors after a successful 10 seasons spent on the bench as an assistant coach at California Baptist where she helped the Lancers post a 230-80 record, highlighted by a WAC regular season and tournament title in 2023-24 and 2020-21. Prior to her coaching career, Ned was a decorated student-athlete at UC Irvine where she was a three-time All-Big West selection and two-time Big West Defensive Player of the Year. Joining Ned on the bench this season will be assistant coaches Nate Fripp and Akilah Martin, both with ties to the Big West as a coach and player, respectively, along with assistant Tori Mitchell, a former CBU standout student-athlete.

A DIFFERENT LOOK ON THE COURT
CSUN returns just two letterwinners from last season's roster in fifth-year senior Erica Adams and sophomore Alondra Lizama while 11 new players make up the 2024-25 roster. Adams gained significant minutes in her first season with CSUN in 2023-24, starting 27 games mostly at point guard. Of the team's 11 newcomers, three join the Matadors from Division I schools with one other from a Division II school, one from an NAIA school, two from junior colleges and four true freshmen.

ADAMS' SENIOR SEASON
Senior guard Erica Adams returns for her second season with the Matadors as the team's only returning starter. Adams led the Matadors with 63 assists a season ago, averaging 2.3 per game. She was the team's second leading scorer at a career-best 8.8 points per game while she also set new career bests in rebounds (3.7) and assists (2.3). Adams also logged many minutes last year, averaging 31.4, which ranked 11th in the Big West. At the free throw line, Adams was particularly impressive as she made 80.6 percent of her attempts (50-of-62).

MEET THE MATADORS
CSUN boasts three Division I transfers this season in graduates Nnenna Orji and Jenna Kilty and sophomore Morgan Edwards. Orji was a former three-year letterwinner with Hawai'i from 2020-23 where she won two Big West titles before playing last year at Old Dominion, totaling 103 career D-1 games with 385 points and 288 rebounds. Kilty, another veteran D-1 player, spent the past two years at Idaho after previously playing for Portland State as she enters the year with 232 career points in 69 games. Edwards was a two-year letterwinner with Cal State Bakersfield, playing in 59 games and tallying 127 total points.

Junior Erika Aspajo is another key addition to the team after playing the past three seasons at Division II Georgian Court University where she averaged 13.2 points per game and 3.9 rebounds in 33 total games. Joining CSUN from the junior college ranks, junior Kelly Tumlin scored 951 total points, averaging 17.6 points to go with earning All-State honors at Chabot College while junior Laini Dahlin averaged 7.4 points in helping Eastern Arizona College to the NJCAA national semifinals. Sophomore center Sincere Hardwick, a transfer from NAIA Saint Katherine, rounds out the transfers.

Four true freshmen have also been added to the team in guards Kayla Hopson (South Shore HS) and Karsen Marshall (Ontario Christian HS), forward Kylie Robertson (Tahoma HS) and center Yves Cox (Link Academy).

EXPERIENCE IS KEY
Despite a team filled with new faces, CSUN will have experience on its side this season. The Matadors have seven upperclassmen this season including two graduate transfers and a fifth-year senior while three are juniors. With the return of letterwinners Erica Adams and Alondra Lizama, CSUN has five total players with Division I experience in head coach Angie Ned's first season.

PRESEASON COACHES POLL
CSUN will look to prove the prognosticators wrong this season as the Matadors were tabbed to finish 11th in the 2024 Big West Preseason Coaches Poll at 14 points. Hawai'i, last season's regular season conference champ, finished first in the poll with six first-place votes and 96 total points. UC Irvine, UC Davis, Long Beach State, Cal Poly, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Bakersfield made up spots 2-10 in the poll.

CSUN IN OPENERS
The Matadors are 20-29 in all-time season openers after defeating Utah State last season at home. That victory snapped a five-game skid in season openers. CSUN will open a season at Premier America Credit Union Arena for the second-straight season and for just the third time over the last seven seasons.

SCOUTING LA SIERRA
NAIA La Sierra dropped its season opener at Hope International on Oct. 29. A season ago, La Sierra went 9-15 overall with a 9-11 record in the California Pacific Conference. Senior Kaydn Mew topped the Golden Eagles in scoring at 14.3 points to go with 3.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Another senior Sonia Randall is the team's second top returning scorer at 7.7 points per game last season. A graduate forward, Luiza Rodrigues had a team-high 13 points in La Sierra's season opener.

Series History: CSUN will play La Sierra for the first time in women's basketball on Monday night.

SCOUTING UTAH STATE
The Aggies sport a much different look than last year's team which finished 5-25 overall and 2-16 in the Mountain West. A total of 10 newcomers make up the roster including three transfers and seven freshmen while head coach Wesley Brooks in his first season at Utah State. Senior guard Cheyenne Stubbs is the team's top returner and scorer from last season where she averaged 16.1 points to go with 4.0 rebounds per game and 52 steals. Ivory Finley also returns after finishing second on the team in scoring at 6.3 points per game. The Aggies were picked to finish 11th in the 2024 Mountain West Preseason Poll.

Series History: Utah State holds a narrow 4-2 lead in the all-time series with CSUN. The Matadors defeated the Aggies last season by a 79-64 margin at Premier America Credit Union Arena with Erica Adams totaling 17 points.

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