California State University at Northridge
Hawai'i
CSUN Closes the Season at Home Against Hawai'i
3/6/2024 12:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—CSUN Women's Basketball (3-26, 1-18 Big West) finishes their season with one last home game against Hawai'i on Thursday, Mar. 7, at 6 p.m. The Matadors will be celebrating Senior Day as they take on the Wahine. The game will also be streamed live on ESPN+.
CELEBRATING OUR SENIORS
As the Matadors take on the Wahine, they will be celebrating their seniors as part of Senior Night.
Graduate Student Olivia Smith wraps up her time with the Matadors in the 2023-24 season. Over her career, she has racked up 115 points and 136 rebounds in 107 games. This year she has played in 27 of the 29 games. She has averaged 0.9 points and 1.3 rebounds in 12.1 minutes per game. She has tallied nine blocks, 14 steals, and 20 assists. In her senior year, she appeared in 26 of 31 games. She averaged 0.5 points and 1.0 rebounds in 5.8 minutes per game. She had tallied seven blocks, five steals, and three assists. The previous year she appeared in 26 of the 28 games. She had averaged 1.1 points and 1.0 rebounds per game. She recorded seven steals and six assists. In her freshman year, Smith played in 28 of the 31 CSUN games. She averaged 1.8 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. She also made 16 steals, dished out 12 assists, and had five blocks. Last year, Smith also made Academic All-Conference selection.
Graduate Student Rochelle Fourie time will also be coming to a close with CSUN. She played with the Matadors in the 2022-23 season. She had appeared in 25 games. She had a 55.2 field goal percentage as she made 16 out of 29 field goal attempts. She also made 8-of-13 free throws. In one season, she made 40 points (1.6 ppg) and grabbed 29 rebounds (1.2 rpg). She got three assists, two blocks, and two steals. Fourie also made Academic All-Conference selection.
ABOUT LAST WEEK
At UC Irvine
The Matadors fell to UC Irvine 64-54 on Thursday night. CSUN started strong with an early 4-0 lead. The Anteaters returned the favor with a 12-1 run before Rachel Harvey struck back. The first quarter ended in the Anteaters' favor with a score of 19-12. The second quarter opened silently as neither team scored for over 2 minutes. The Anteaters broke through first, but the Matadors took control with a 6-0 run. The Matadors tried to stay close, but the Anteaters took the first half at 28-18.
Kaitlyn Elsholz opened the quarter with a 3-pointer before the Anteaters went on an 8-0 run. Talo Li-Uperesa, Erica Adams, and Kayanna Spriggs continued to trade shots with UC Irvine to try to chip away at the distance. Li-Uperesa made one last jumper with 31 seconds on the clock to bring the score to 44-35. The Matadors opened the final quarter with a jumper from Arina Nikishina. UC Irvine and CSUN proceeded to trade shots, but the Anteaters claimed the game as CSUN couldn't close the distance.
At UC San Diego
CSUN finished the week with a 66-64 victory in overtime over UC San Diego on Saturday afternoon. The Tritons opened the game with a 6-0 run before Spriggs fired with a layup. UC San Diego continued to pull away but Spriggs and Nikishina each made baskets to end the first quarter bringing CSUN to within 17-10. UC San Diego returned to the second quarter reinvigorated as the Tritons went on a 6-2 run. Nikishina made a jumper and was followed by a 3-pointer from Laney Amundsen in the last minute to keep the Matadors in the game as the first half closed at 27-20.
The Matadors refused to fold as they returned in the third quarter with a layup from Spriggs. Adams followed next as CSUN climbed to 34-26. The Tritons gained control as they went on a 9-0 run, but CSUN didn't let them hold it for long as Adams made a jumper. The third quarter ended with the Matadors trailing 43-35. CSUN kept up their strike into the fourth quarter as Olivia Smith made another 3-pointer. The Tritons tried to put some more space between them, but Spriggs, Adams, and Li-Uperea kept the game at 52-44 with free throws and a jumper. Both teams traded shots as the Tritons took the lead back with a few more baskets, but Adams tied the game with one minute left on the clock to go into overtime at 57-57.
The Tritons struck first, but Elsholz fired back with a 3-pointer to take the lead again. UC San Diego made enough to overtake the Matadors by one point, but CSUN took the lead back. Nikishina hit a basket plus a free throw and was followed by a layup from Elsholz. Smith kept the ball rolling with her own layup. Li-Uperesa made a free throw to extend the lead to 66-62. The Tritons made two free throws but were unable to close the distance, missing a late three as time expired.
SPRIGGS MANAGING THE BOARDS
Junior forward Kayanna Spriggs has topped CSUN in rebounding in 18 games this season as she has averaged 7.8 per game. Recently, Spriggs grabbed 16 rebounds on her own against UC San Diego. Against the Tritons, she also scored 14 points on her own. Spriggs has pulled down double-figure rebounds in seven games this season and collected five double-doubles. With the most recent game against UC San Diego, Spriggs has collected 225 career rebounds, the most on the team. She also leads the team in scoring at 9.4 points while she leads the team in points per game in Big West play (10.4). On the year, Spriggs leads in most steals per game at 1.3.
NEWCOMERS MAKING AN IMPRESSION
Junior guard Erica Adams is tied in the second-highest scoring average for CSUN at 8.8 points this season. A Pacific transfer, Adams is shooting 36.1 percent while averaging 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals. Another new face this season, junior forward Talo Li-Uperesa is leading the team in blocks at 1.0 per game to go with averaging 7.6 points. Li-Uperesa, a transfer from the City of College of San Francisco, is shooting 41.8 percent in 30.8 minutes per game.
CSUN's true freshman Kaitlyn Elsholz has been a force in her first season with the Matadors. Elsholz, who was named Big West Player of the Week on Nov. 13, led CSUN in scoring against UC Santa Barbara with 21. More recently, Elsholz was third on the team in scoring against UC San Diego with 10 points. She is fourth on the team in scoring with 8.5 with 14 blocks on the year. Elsholz also leads for the most shots made from the 3-point range (41) on the team.
MATADORS ON THE BIG WEST CHARTS
Kayanna Spriggs is fifth in The Big West in rebounds per game (7.8). Talo Li-Uperesa is fourth in the league in blocks per game (1.1). Kaitlyn Elsholz is tied for 15th in steals per game (1.4). Kayanna Spriggs and Talo Li-Uperesa follow as they are tied for 17th (1.3). As a team, CSUN is second in The Big West in blocks per game (3.6), fifth in steals per game (8.8), and is fourth in rebounds per game (36.3).
SCOUTING HAWAI'I
The Wahine have an overall record of 18-9 and a conference record of 15-3. They are coming off a 62-51 win against UC Riverside. Hawai'i adds four newcomers including three freshmen. Junior Daejah Philips leads the team in scoring with 11.2 per game and steals (1.6). She is also tied for the most assists with 2.1 per game. Sophomore Imani Perez leads the team in rebounds (5.8) and blocks (1.2). Head coach Laura Beeman is in her 12th season with the team.
Series History: Hawai'i leads the all-time series 16-11 with six-straight wins in the series. CSUN dropped a 67-38 decision earlier this season in Hawai'i on Saturday, Jan. 6, at 9 p.m. The Matadors' last won in the series on Jan. 9, 2020 with a 58-54 victory.
#GoMatadors
