CSUN Battles Rainbow Wahine in Saturday Afternoon Contest

Saturday, January 24

Northridge, Calif

1:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

Hawai'i

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Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Battles Rainbow Wahine in Saturday Afternoon Contest

1/23/2026 12:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball

GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif --- The CSUN women's basketball team (6-11, 2-6 Big West) continues Big West action this week when it takes on the Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (8-9, 2-5 Big West) Saturday at Premier America Credit Union Arena at 1:00 p.m. Saturday's contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Jill Painter-Lopez on the call.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
01/15 - vs UC San Diego
CSUN fell to the UC San Diego Tritons, 60-48, last Thursday at Premier America Credit Union Arena. Rita Nazario led all CSUN scorers with 14 points. Jite Gbemuotor added 13 and Saray White scored in double figures as well with 12 points. Sabrina Ma of the Tritons led all scorers with 23 points. White and Gbemuotor also had eight rebounds each.

CSUN struggled in the first quarter, only scoring five in the first. The second quarter was the best quarter for the Matadors. They took the lead while scoring 18 (highest of the night) and limiting the best offense in the Big West to only six points. UC San Diego's defense turned up a notch in the third. The Tritons stormed out of the gates with a 15-0 run with balanced scoring up and down the roster. Unfortunately, CSUN was playing behind the eight ball for most of the second half, and couldn't close the gap, giving the Tritons the win.

01/17 - vs Long Beach State
CSUN fell to Long Beach State by a score of 62-61 last Saturday afternoon at LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid. It was a game that came down to the last possession, but CSUN couldn't get its final shot to fall as the Beach's held on to a one-point lead as time expired. Jite Gbemuotor and Rita Nazario led the way for the Matadors with 16 points each. CSUN fell despite outscoring the Beach 35-25 in the second half.

SARAY HAS BEEN SURGING
Saray White's last seven games have been a big help for the Matadors' offense. The junior transfer from Sacramento has scored in double figures in six out of seven games and has scored in the double-digits in 11 out of her last 13 contests. Against Cal State Fullerton on January 10, she had a season and career-high total of 26 points to lead the Matadors. White is also good for hitting a shot or two from distance, having made at least one three-point bucket for every game played this season except for three games. Against Fullerton, White made her way to the free throw line, and was perfect, going 5-5.

THE RESERVES GETTING IT DONE
CSUN has had a balanced scoring attack from its whole team all season long. The Matadors are 17th in the nation in bench points at 28 points per contest. The two best bench performing games were against Bethesda on November 4 and Life Pacific on November 26. In the game against Bethesda, CSUN had 67 points scored from the non-starters. Against Life Pacific, 60 of the Matadors' record setting 106 points came off the bench.

BRINGING DOWN THE BOARDS
CSUN is currently leading the Big West in rebounds per game at 40.7 per contest. Jite Gbemuotor (117), Nadia Bernard (76), and Saray White (75) have already passed the 70-rebound mark in the team's first 17 games. All but one Matador has at least 20 rebounds so far this season with Jana Canadell just short of that mark at 19. CSUN is 55th in the nation in that category.

SCOUTING HAWAI'I
The Rainbow Wahine is currently riding a three-game winning streak in conference play after dropping its first five games, Their overall record is 9-9 but are only 1-3 on the road this season. Hawai'i is sixth in the conference in points per game at 64.9. Hawai'i's defense has been solid, as it ranks fourth in the Big West in points allowed at 59.8.

Their leading scorer is Bailey Flavell, who is 11th in the Big West with 13.8 PPG. Keiara Curtis has 12.4 PPG in Big West games, as she has been a big contributor as of late.

In Big West games, Hawai'i has shined when it comes to the rebounding part of the game. The Rainbow Wahine are third in rebounds at 38.5, while also allowing the fewest boards in the Big West at 32.8 RPG.

The Rainbow Wahine is an absolute force when it comes to blocked shots. They are far and away the best blocking team in the Big West, as they swat down 7.38 shots per game.

Earlier this week, Hawai'i was victorious against Bakersfield, winning 64-52 on the road.

Series History: Hawai'i leads the series 18-10 all-time against CSUN. The Rainbow Wahine are currently riding a nine-game winning streak. CSUN's last win came in January of 2020, where the Matadors won 58-54 at home.
#GoMatadors