Matadors Travel To Irvine This Week, Host Bakersfield

Game Notes
NORTHRIDGE, Calif -- CSUN Women's Basketball (3-10, 1-3 Big West) begins another week of conference play as the Matadors take on UC Irvine (8-5, 2-1 Big West) Thursday night at Bren Events Center at 6 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN+. '

For its second game of the week, CSUN will host Cal State Bakersfield (0-14, 0-4 Big West) at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon at Premier America Credit Union Arena. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+ with Jill Painter-Lopez on the call. CSUN will be looking to win its second straight game at home.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
CSUN played two games last week, the first of which was at home versus Cal State Fullerton, Thursday, Jan. 2nd. The Matadors stormed back from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime against the Titans and ended up victorious by a score of 79-76. The win was CSUN's first in conference play and first of the new year.

Morgan Edwards led the way with 22 points in the win. Erika Aspajo added a season-high 16 points to go along with eight assists and seven rebounds. Yves Cox tallied a career-high 14 rebounds. Jenna Kilty hit a three-point basket with six seconds remaining in the fourth to force overtime. CSUN grabbed 61 rebounds, its third most in a game in team history.

In the second game of the week, CSUN traveled to UC Davis on Saturday, Jan 4th. The Matadors were defeated by the Aggies, 68-41 on a night that Kilty led all scorers with 12 points. CSUN played great defense in the loss as Edwards had five steals, while Erica Adams and Aspajo both had four steals.

ADAMS AND EDWARDS LEAD THE WAY
Erica Adams and Morgan Edwards are the only two Matador players to play in and start every game so far this season. Adams is becoming known for her all-around play. The senior from Oakland is averaging 7.6 PPG and is second on the team in rebounds at 5.3 per contest. Adams is currently second in the Big West in minutes per game (33.8) and free throw percentage (83.8).

Edwards is currently second on the team with 9.5 PPG. The junior guard is averaging 13 PPG in her last seven contests. She is also the fourth leading rebounder on the squad with 3.7 per game. Edwards led all scorers in the comeback win against Fullerton while shooting 50% from the field.

ENOUGH REBOUNDS TO GO AROUND
CSUN tallied 103 rebounds between both games last week, including a 61 rebound game against Fullerton on Thursday. The 61 rebounds were just two short of a team record and tied for third most in the team's history. The last time CSUN grabbed 61 rebounds was back in 2017 versus UC Riverside. Yves Cox leads the squad with 6.8 rebounds per contest.

LONG DISTANCE CALLS
CSUN currently ranks third in the Big West with 6.9 threes per contest. Four Matador players have double-digit threes on the year. Kilty has 23, Kelly Tumlin has 19, Edwards has 18 and freshman Karsen Marshall has 10. Nine of the 12 Matadors players have knocked down a shot from behind the arc this season. Edwards leads the squad in three-point percentage at 42% from downtown.

GETTING IT DONE FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
CSUN is currently second in the Big West in free throw percentage. The Matadors are shooting 74% from the line this season. Adams is leading the pack by shooting 83.8%. Hopson and Aspajo are shooting 83.3% each. Kilty is also making 80% of her free points this season.

SCOUTING UC IRVINE
The Anteaters are 8-5 on the season and 2-1 in the Big West with wins over Cal State Bakersfield and Cal Poly and a loss to UC Riverside. UC Irvine has some impressive non-conference wins over Pepperdine, Saint Mary's and Oregon State.

Irvine also has on the roster the reigning Big West Player of the Year in Deja Lee, as she is averaging 9.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.2 steals. She ranks among the top-five in The Big West in the latter two categories.

Junior Hunter Hernandez leads the team in scoring at 13.8 points a game and rebounding at 5.7 rebounds a game.

The Anteaters are known for their defense as they hold opponents to just 55.8 PPG, good for second in the conference.

CSUN head coach Angie Ned is returning home for the first time as a head coach. Ned was a standout guard at UC Irvine from 2003-07. She amassed 1,333 career points which is still tied for fifth among UCI's all-time leading scorers.

Series History: CSUN currently leads the all-time series history at 32-31 against the Anteaters. However, UC Irvine has won five in a row against the Matadors. The last victory for CSUN came on Jan. 23, 2020 where the Matadors prevailed by a score of 56-51.

SCOUTING CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD
CSUB is still looking for its first win of the season as it enters this week of action at 0-14 on the season, as well as 0-4 in conference play. The Roadrunners rank last in the conference in PPG at 47.1. Bakersfield also ranks second to last in most points given up per contest at 72.6. CSUB is led in scoring by Ary Dizon who is averaging 7.7 PPG. Dizon is also the only player on the team to have played in and started all 14 games.

The Matadors will look to force three-point shots as Bakersfield is ranked last in the conference at three-point percentage (24.6). CSUN will also look to send the Roadrunners to the charity stripe, as Bakersfield is last in free-throw percentage (53.1%).

Series History: CSUN currently trails in the all-time series history by going 5-10. CSUN's last win against the Roadrunners came in overtime on Feb. 23, 2023 where the Matadors prevailed by a score of 73-64.

#GoMatadors

Matadors Travel To Irvine This Week, Host Bakersfield

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Players Mentioned

Erica Adams

Erika Aspajo

Yves Cox

Morgan Edwards

Jenna Kilty

Karsen Marshall

Kelly Tumlin