Matadors Travel to San Diego State for Non-Conference Bout with Aztecs

NORTHRIDGE, Calif --- The CSUN women's basketball team (2-0) will embark on its first road trip of the season when it heads down to San Diego to take on the San Diego State Aztecs (1-1) at Viejas Arena at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow night. The game will be livestreamed on the Mountain West Network.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
CSUN Women's Basketball opened its 2025–26 season by winning its first two games against Bethesda (Tuesday) and the University of San Diego (Saturday). Both games were at Premier America Credit Union Arena.

CSUN kicked off the new season with a commanding 103-13 victory against Bethesda. That margin of victory for the Matadors was the largest in their history at 90 points. CSUN beat the old record that stood since February 3, 1977 against UC Irvine.

Sophomore Laini Dahlin came off the bench to lead CSUN with 19 points, including five three-pointers in the fourth quarter. Rita Nazario added 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while Maya Contreras posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. A total of 12 different Matadors scored in the win.

On Saturday, CSUN continued its winning ways with a victory over the San Diego Toreros. Nazario led the way with 21 points including a red-hot 67% shooting from behind the arc, going 6-9 on the night. In total she went 7-12 from the field. Jite Gbemuotor scored in double figures for the first time in her collegiate career as she scored 11 on 4-6 shooting.

USD led by two with 9:57 left in the first quarter, and that would be its last lead as CSUN was in control for most of the game. CSUN held USD to only 17 points in the second half. The win marked CSUN's first victory over USD since 2000, snapping a 13-game skid in the series. CSUN has now started 2-0 for the third consecutive year.

HI, I'M NEW HERE
A total of 10 newcomers make up this season's roster, that's 67 percent of the team. Of the 10 newcomers, six are transfers. In an interview with the Big West during the conference preview on Oct. 17, coach Ned emphasized using the transfer portal to build pieces for a winning program in the offseason.

Using the portal is something that every team does in the new age of college sports, and CSUN has taken advantage of it. The transfers include Jite Gbemuotor (Ole Miss), Maya Contreras (New Mexico Junior College), Mariona Cos-Morales (Rider University), Rita Nazario (Saint Louis), Nadia Bernard (Saint Mary's) and Saray White (Cosumnes River College).

To join the transfers on the squad are four freshmen: Amya Moody, Norret Lewis, Heather Stedman and Jana Canadell.

MORGAN EDWARDS - THE TEAM LEADER
Morgan Edwards has made an immediate impact on the Matadors since playing her first year as a junior last season after transferring from Cal State Bakersfield. Last season, she led the Matadors in field goals made at 83.

Edwards also scored in double figures in 15 games while scoring over 20 points on two different occasions (22 against California Baptist (12/11/24) and 21 against Cal State Fullerton (01/02/25)). She averaged 8.8 points per game and 30.3 minutes per game, both second on the team. Edwards started in the most games out of any player a year ago.

SCOUTING SAN DIEGO STATE
The Aztecs are coming off a 95-35 win over Cal State San Marcos in their home opener Saturday. SDSU is 1-1 on the season. Through two games, SDSU is averaging 10.5 made three-pointers per game. The Aztecs were picked to finish second in the Mountain West according to the conference's preseason poll.

San Diego State went 25-10 last year and won the Mountain West Tournament championship to advance to its first NCAA Tournament since 2012.

The Aztecs are tough at home. Since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, SDSU is 38-12 in home games. Naomi Panganiban, a sophomore guard for the Aztecs, runs the offense. She has nine assists and one turnover so far this season. Nat Martinez, another sophomore guard, is the only Aztec to score in double-figures for both of the games played this season.

SERIES HISTORY
SDSU leads the all-time series at 10-5. SDSU is 6-2 at home against the Matadors. The last game played between these two teams was on Dec. 28, 2019, which resulted in a 74-69 win for CSUN in overtime.

Matadors Travel to San Diego State for Non-Conference Bout with Aztecs

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Players Mentioned

Nadia Bernard

Jana Canadell

Maya Contreras

Mariona Cos-Morales

Laini Dahlin

Morgan Edwards

Jite Gbemuotor

Norret Lewis

Amya Moody

Heather Stedman

Saray White