Matadors Hit The Road This Week, Will Play at UCSD, and UCSB

GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif -- CSUN Women's Basketball (4-21, 2-14 Big West) will hit the road again this week to open the home stretch of the season. The Matadors will travel to UC San Diego for a game against the Tritons at LionTree Arena on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. to kick off action. Then to finish the week, CSUN will stop by The Thunderdome to take on UC Santa Barbara at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Both games will be livestreamed on ESPN+.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
CSUN fell in both games played last week. On Thursday, Feb. 20, CSUN was defeated by UC Irvine by a score of 100-56 at Premier America Credit Union Arena. Junior Morgan Edwards led all CSUN scorers with 11 points. All 10 CSUN players found the scoring column in the defeat. Freshman Yves Cox had a near double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds.

In the second contest of the week, CSUN met up with UC Davis, and was defeated by the Aggies, 66-45 on Saturday afternoon in Northridge. Nnenna Orji led all CSUN scorers with 11 points. The graduate student from Rancho Cucamonga also had a double-double as she tallied 10 rebounds in the defeat. Erika Aspajo had a near double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.

QUITE THE STREAK FOR NNENNA ORJI
Orji was an addition to the roster for the 2024-25 campaign after she spent her previous three seasons with Old Dominion University and Big West opponent Hawai'i. After trying to find her footing early on this season, she is now starting to find her groove for the Matadors in recent games. Orji has scored in double-figures in seven out of the past eight games, including going for a career high 16 on January 30 versus UC Santa Barbara. She is also averaging seven rebounds in that same time frame.

OFFENSE RUNNING THROUGH THE SPANIARD
Aspajo has been the focal point of the offensive schemes so far this season. The junior from Barcelona is number one on the team and number one in the Big West in assists per game at 4.9 per contest. Aspajo is also leading the team in points per game as well at 10.9. That mark is good enough for 12th in the Big West. Aspajo also has the top four highest assisted games so far this season in the Big West. Her nine assists versus Idaho are the most by any player in the conference so far this season. Aspajo has also had eight games where she has played 30 minutes or more, the most on the team.

LONG DISTANCE CALLS
CSUN currently ranks third in the Big West with seven three-pointers per contest. Five Matador players have double-digit threes on the year. Kelly Tumlin is leading the pack with 41. Jenna Kilty has 36 while Morgan Edwards has 34. Laini Dahlin has 22 and freshman Karsen Marshall has 19. 10 of the 12 Matadors players have knocked down a shot from behind the arc this season. Kilty leads the squad in three-point percentage at 37% from downtown. CSUN has made a total of 171 three-point baskets on the season.

LEADING THE MATADORS IN SCORING - THE MORGAN EDWARDS
Morgan Edwards has played in 23 games so far this season and she has started in all 23 of them. She leads the Matadors in scoring at 9.0 PPG. She has also amassed a total of 207 points scored all season. Edwards, the junior from Los Angeles, has tallied 16- and 17-point and 11-point games in three out of her past four contests. Her highest scoring game has come against California Baptist on Dec. 11, where she dropped 21 points.

ENOUGH REBOUNDS TO GO AROUND
CSUN currently ranks third in the Big West in rebounds per game at 38.7. Yves Cox, a freshman, ranks first on the team in rebounds at 5.8 per contest. She amassed four different double-digit rebound games this season, grabbing a season-high 14 against Cal State Fullerton on January 2nd. In that game, CSUN tallied 61 rebounds, just two short of a team record and tied for third most in the team's history. Erica Adams averages 4.9 RPG and Aspajo averages 4.1 RPG, both impressive numbers for two guards.

SCOUTING UC SAN DIEGO
The Tritons are currently fourth in the Big West with a 14-14 overall record and 10-6 in conference play. UCSD's leading scorer Sumayah Sugapong ranks fifth in the Big West in scoring (14.1 points per game), third in total points (395), first in assists (99 total, 3.5 per game). Their second leading scorer, Sabrina Ma, ranks 15th in scoring with 10 points per game.

UCSD is a menace on the defensive end, currently leading the Big West and ranking 13th nationally in steals at 12.1 per game. UCSD set the Division I record for steals in a game when it tallied 21 versus Occidental on Nov. 4. Five Tritons rank in the top 15 in the Big West in steals.

Series History: CSUN is currently trailing in the all-time series history, 5-3. The Matadors won their last contest on the road at LionTree Arena in 2024, by a score of 66-64 in overtime.

SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA
UCSB is fifth in the Big West with a 16-11 overall record, and 10-7 Big West record heading into this week's slate of games. The Gauchos went 2-0 with a pair of big wins last week, defeating Cal State Fullerton on the road then taking down Long Beach State at home.

Fifth year guard Alyssa Marin leads the team with 14.4 points per game, she is also third in the Big West with that number. The Gauchos have two or more players that average more than nine a game as well. Skylar Burke and Zoe Borter both average 9.9 and 9.4 respectively.

UCSB is third in the Big West in points per contest with 63.5 PPG. On the flip side, they allow 58.8 points per game, that's sixth in the conference. The Gauchos can match CSUN in the three-point game. UCSB is second in three-point field goals made with 7.2 per game.

CSUN also needs to be aware of the shooting fouls. UCSB is ranked first in the Big West in free-throw percentage with 82.2% of shots from the charity stripe going in.

Series History: The Matadors are 20-54 all-time against UCSB. CSUN's last win came on Jan. 5, 2019 where CSUN was victorious 73-65 at home

Matadors Hit The Road This Week, Will Play at UCSD, and UCSB

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Players Mentioned

Erica Adams

Erika Aspajo

Yves Cox

Laini Dahlin

Morgan Edwards

Jenna Kilty

Karsen Marshall

Nnenna Orji

Kelly Tumlin