CSUN Goes To 2-0 After Victory at Utah State

Logan, Utah.---CSUN Women's Basketball (2-0, 0-0 Big West) earned a hard fought victory, 69-65 against Utah State at Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Friday night.

Freshman Yves Cox (19 points, 11 rebounds) notched her first ever double-double in just her second collegiate game. Junior transfer Erika Aspajo was a big-time contributor as well, as she tallied 14 points while going 8-10 from the free throw line. Junior Kelly Tumlin produced 15 points as well, part of the three Matadors in double-figures.

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST HALF
A relatively low scoring first-quarter as CSUN was off from deep to begin. The Matadors went 1-9 from behind the arc in the game's first ten minutes. Cheyenne Stubs for Utah State hit a corner-three to increase an early lead, 11-3. CSUN was able to catch up on free throws and three from Laini Dahlin, which cut the lead to five. (13-8). Good defense from both teams resulted in the Matadors going 4-16 and the Aggies going 4-21 from the field, ending the quarter at 16-12 in favor of the home team.

In the 2nd quarter, CSUN tallied back-to-back layups from Nnenna Orji and Aspajo to tie the game at 16 apiece. Utah State went ice cold from the field to begin the second. They began the period going 0-7 from three and 0-8 from the field as a whole. They didn't get their first basket until the 5:37 mark.

Even though the Aggies were off to that rough start, they maintained the lead from a Denae Skelton three pointer, making the score 24-18 with 3:52 left. CSUN then went on a run. A run filled with free throws, a jumper from Cox and an Asapjo layup which gave CSUN the lead, 26-24, with 56 seconds left. Mia Tarver of the Aggies hit a last-second layup as the score was a 27-26 CSUN lead heading into the break.

2ND HALF
The Aggies hit an early three coming out of intermission to take the lead, but then the Matadors went on another run. A 7-0 run capped off by a Jenna Kilty three put CSUN back up by eight (37-29). The Aggies quickly erased the lead by going on a run of their own. A Carlie Latta layup cut CSUN's lead to one with 4:22 remaining in the period.

After a back-and-forth play with multiple lead changes, the third quarter ended with the score being all square at 45. Utah State attempted a staggering 40 three point attempts in the first three quarters, only knocking down nine of them.

As the 4th quarter started, the game continued to swing in both directions. The Matadors were down 56-52, when Tumlin hit a layup and a three from the wing to take the lead at 57-56. A layup and clutch free throws by Aspajo put CSUN up by five with two minutes left. A quick Aggies three cut the lead to two before Cox hit back-to-back layups.

Aspajo went to the line with 10 seconds to go as the Matadors were only up by two. The junior from Barcelona hit two more clutch free throws, as CSUN sealed the win, 69-65.

NOTES OF THE GAME

CSUN got to the charity stripe a bunch in this one, going 22-30.
Freshman Yves Cox gets double-double in second career game, totaling 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Utah State attempted 47 three point shot attempts, only making 11. (23.4%)
CSUN tallied 32 points in the paint.
The Matadors have consecutive victories over the Aggies, improving to 3-4 all time.

ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH ANGIE NED
"We had a game plan of focusing on our defense and trusting the scouting report. Yves [Cox] did a great job of buying into her role on the floor and trusting the process."

UP NEXT
CSUN goes on the road again to play No. 3 USC, Nov. 12 at 7:00 p.m. at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif.

#GoMatadors

CSUN Goes To 2-0 After Victory at Utah State

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Team Stats

Yves Cox

Kelly Tumlin

Erika Aspajo

Nnenna Orji

Players Mentioned

Erika Aspajo

Yves Cox

Laini Dahlin

Jenna Kilty

Nnenna Orji

Kelly Tumlin

Players Mentioned

Erika Aspajo

Yves Cox

Laini Dahlin

Jenna Kilty

Nnenna Orji

Kelly Tumlin