CSUN Returns Home to Face Idaho Saturday Afternoon

Game Notes
NORTHRIDGE, Calif -- CSUN Women's Basketball (2-8, 0-2 Big West) returns home this Saturday for its final matchup of 2024 against the Idaho Vandals (7-3, 0-0 Big Sky) at 2:30 p.m. at Premier America Credit Union Arena. The game will be live streamed on ESPN+ with Jill Painter-Lopez and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
CSUN played two games this past week. The first of them was at home against California Baptist on Wednesday, Dec. 11. The Matadors would fall to the Lancers in a heartbreaker, 73-71, after a last second bank shot by former CSUN player Anaiyah Tu'ua. CSUN did overcome a 17-point deficit with six minutes left to play in a thrilling comeback but came up just short.

Against the Lancers, CSUN was led in scoring by junior guard Morgan Edwards, who had a career high 22 points in the defeat. In the comeback, Edwards was a pivotal factor. She got fouled on a made three-point bucket, and then hit the free throw to cut the lead to 10 with 3:13 left to play. In the very next possession, the junior from Los Angeles would get fouled on another made shot, this time a driving layup to give all the momentum to the Matadors.

After a made shot from the Lancers, Erica Adams wanted to join the and-one party as she got fouled on a made layup with 2:26 remaining. The senior would hit the free throw to cut the lead to six. Kelly Tumlin then hit a layup to cut the lead to four. After a made free throw from CBU, Edwards hit a shot from distance to get the lead to only two with just under a minute left to play. With 24 seconds left, CSUN called a timeout and drew up a play for Yves Cox. She got a layup to tie the game with 10 seconds to go. The score was 71 a piece before the buzzer beater by CBU.

In the second game, the Matadors hit the road as they traveled down south for a matchup against the San Diego Toreros on Saturday Dec. 14. CSUN dropped the contest against San Diego, 74-52 at Jenny Craig Pavilion. Adams led all CSUN scorers with 15 points. Freshman Kayla Hopson added a career-high 13 points, shattering her previous high of six.

CSUN came out of the gates firing against the Toreros. After USD opened up an early 13-7 lead with three minutes left in the quarter, Adams led the Matadors as CSUN went on a 9-0 run. The Matadors ended the quarter with a three-point lead at 16-13.

In the second quarter, the Matadors would enjoy their biggest lead at 18-13 with 8:54 left thanks to a driving layup by Adams. Unfortunately for CSUN, San Diego started to turn on the jets and never looked back. The Toreros enjoyed a 22-2 run and headed into the intermission with a 41-26 lead.

The third quarter involved more scoring from the home team, as USD went on another big run, this time a 19-0 run as CSUN trailed by 28 going into the fourth.
In the fourth quarter however, the Matadors showed fight as CSUN had its highest scoring quarter of the afternoon with 20, outscoring USD by six. The lead was just too much to overcome though as CSUN was defeated.

LONG DISTANCE CALLS
CSUN currently ranks fourth in the Big West with 6.7 threes per contest. Four Matador players have double-digit threes on the year. Jenna Kilty has 16, Tumlin has 14, Edwards has 12, and freshman Karsen Marshall has 10. Eight out of 12 Matador players have knocked down a shot from behind the arc this season. Edwards leads the squad in three-point percentage at 48% from downtown.

MATADORS ON THE BOARDS
CSUN currently ranks fifth in the Big West with 36.2 rebounds per game. Cox, a freshman, leads the team with 61 rebounds on the year as she is averaging six a game. Adams isn't too far behind either, the senior has 52 on the season as she is averaging 5.2 a game. Tumlin is next with 36 rebounds on the campaign.

EDWARDS EMBODIES CONSISTENCY
Morgan Edwards is currently having her best collegiate season in her junior year and first with the Matadors. After dropping a career-high 22 points against California Baptist, she is now leading the team with 8.7 PPG. She has also started and played in all 10 games this season. The only other player to start in all 10 games has been Erica Adams. In addition, Edwards is third on the team in three pointers and leads the squad in three-point percentage with 48%.

GETTING IT DONE FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
CSUN is currently third in the Big West in free throw percentage. The Matadors are shooting 74.2% from the line this season. Adams is leading the pack by shooting 87.9%. Hopson is shooting 83.3%, and Erika Aspajo is shooting 80%.

SCOUTING THE IDAHO VANDALS
Idaho is currently 7-3 on the season and is coming off a loss against Big West foe UC Davis on Dec. 18, as the Aggies edged the Vandals 65-58.

The Vandals have a well balanced scoring attack, as four of their players are currently averaging double figures in scoring. Rosie Schweizer is leading the team at 12.3 PPG. Hope Hassmann is second at 12.1 PPG and followed by Olivia Nelson (11.2 PPG) and Jennifer Aadland (10.2 PPG).

Idaho has run the same starting lineup in all 10 games played this season. It features all the players listed above plus Anja Bukvic, a junior from Serbia.

Idaho is currently 2-1 vs Big West opponents this year. The Vandals defeated UC Riverside 56-42, and Cal Poly 74-54.

Series History: Idaho currently leads the series history 12-3. The last time these two played was in 2018 on Nov. 6. The Vandals bested the Matadors 88-73 in Idaho.

#GoMatadors

CSUN Returns Home to Face Idaho Saturday Afternoon

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Players Mentioned

Erica Adams

Erika Aspajo

Yves Cox

Morgan Edwards

Kayla Hopson

Jenna Kilty

Karsen Marshall

Kelly Tumlin