CSUN Takes Down Long Beach State by Double-Digits in Home Victory

Saturday, February 21

Northridge, Calif

2:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

9-16,5-11Big West

Long Beach State

3-23,2-14Big West

Long Beach St.

CSUN

Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Takes Down Long Beach State by Double-Digits in Home Victory

2/21/2026 7:11:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. --- The CSUN women's basketball team (9-16, 5-11 Big West) came up victorious against Long Beach State, 85-75, Saturday afternoon at Premier America Credit Union Arena. Rita Nazario led the way with 20 points, including draining four shots from downtown. Saray White added 19 and Jite Gbemuotor posted 16 points and 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double in five games.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Long Beach State took an early 2-0 lead, and that would be the last time it would be ahead all game as CSUN exerted its force early. After the early Beach bucket, CSUN went on a 17-5 run, with six different players earning field goals for the Matadors. Both teams traded buckets the rest of the way in the first quarter, as CSUN carried an eight point lead at 27-19 heading into the second stanza.

Rita Nazario drilled a three-point jumper to begin the scoring in the second quarter, once again extending CSUN's lead to double-digits at 30-19 with 8:54 remaining in the half. That bucket was the beginning of a 9-2 run as Morgan Edwards swished a shot from distance as well. Amya Moody made a free throw that extended CSUN's lead to 15 at 36-21 with 6:35 left in the half.

The Beach did counter with a 7-2 run, getting the lead back to 10 at 38-28 with 2:54 remaining. The Matadors ended the quarter on a mini 5-2 run, as CSUN carried a 43-30 lead entering the locker room.

SECOND HALF
CSUN came out of the gates firing with a 6-0 run that put the lead at 19 at 49-30 at the 7:15 mark in the third. The Matadors added another run, this time of the 10-4 variety to put them up by 25 with 3:17 remaining in the third. LBSU would add 11 more points in the quarter to CSUN's six, but the Matadors carried a 20 point lead going into the final 10 minutes at 65-45.

The Beach wouldn't go down without a fight in the final quarter. They drew foul after foul, going to the line 16 times in the quarter. They made 15 out of those 16 shots from the charity stripe, helping cut the deficit to 10. CSUN's dominance from the first few quarters however put them in the driver's seat and made it a difficult mountain for Long Beach State to climb. CSUN shot 75% from the field in the fourth to secure the victory.

NOTES OF THE GAME

This was Gbemuotor's seventh career double-double. She is also two rebounds away from 200 boards this season.
Gbemuotor, Nazario and White accounted for 54 of CSUN's 85 points.
CSUN shot 43.8% from three.
White matched her career high with six steals.
CSUN had 17 steals total.
In a physical game, there was a total of 52 fouls between the two teams.

ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH ANGIE NED
"The team is focused on improving and one game at a time as we close out the season with hopes of securing a tournament spot. We have talked a lot about doing a good job on scout defense and getting consecutive stops. I am very proud of our group and how the team is playing right now."

UP NEXT
CSUN hits the road to take on UC Irvine on Thursday, February 26 at Bren Events Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.