UC Riverside Defeats CSUN 70-61 in Saturday Afternoon Matchup

Saturday, February 28

Northridge, Calif

2:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

9-18,5-13Big West

UC Riverside

10-19,8-11Big West

UC Riverside

CSUN

Photo by: Chuck Marvel

UC Riverside Defeats CSUN 70-61 in Saturday Afternoon Matchup

2/28/2026 6:12:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. --- The CSUN women's basketball team (9-18, 5-13 Big West) was defeated by the UC Riverside Highlanders, 70-61 at Premier America Credit Union Arena Saturday afternoon. Jite Gbemuotor led the Matadors with 19 points and eight rebounds. Erika Aspajo was the second leading scorer with 11 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED
UCR began the game on a 10-4 run as it went 4-9 from the field in the process. CSUN countered with a 9-3 run to tie the game at 13-13 with 1:49 remaining left in the quarter. The Highlanders added four more points to end the game's first 10 minutes. Five different Matadors scored in the quarter.

CSUN began the second quarter on an 11-6 run to take over the lead at 26-25 off a Gbemuotor layup to make it 26-25 with 3:35 remaining. The Highlanders took over on the offensive end for the rest of the half, going on a 9-2 run by shooting 50% from the field. The scoreboard read 34-28 in favor of UC Riverside going into intermission.

SECOND HALF
UCR continued putting pressure on the Matadors, beginning the quarter on a 15-8 run with nine of those points coming from Big West leader Hannah Wickstrom. That run made it a 13 point game at 49-36 with 4:18 remaining in the period. The rest of the quarter saw both teams trying to get a sizeable run going, but with no avail. UCR led by 12 at 55-43 going into the game's final 10 minutes.

In the final quarter, CSUN came out fighting, going on a 14-7 run to make it a five point game at 62-57 with 3:47 left to play. Aspajo and Gbemuotor both had five points in the run. In the game's final minutes, both defenses were turned up a notch, as CSUN couldn't bring itself to within more than five. UCR went on an 8-4 run to end the game and keep it out of reach of the Matadors.

NOTES OF THE GAME

Gbemuotor has now scored in double figures in 14 games this season.
Aspajo has now scored in double figures in 35 career games.
CSUN's nine steals were more than UCR's eight.
Saray White, Morgan Edwards, and Rita Nazario all scored eight points.
CSUN has now split the season series with UCR after previously winning in Riverside earlier this season.
CSUN outscored UCR 18-15 in the final quarter.

UP NEXT
CSUN will play its last game at Premier America Credit Union Arena for the 2025-26 season on Thursday when it takes on Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday, March 5 at 6:00 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Jill Painter-Lopez on the call.