Matadors Battle Mustangs at Home, Travel to UC Riverside in Week of Big West Action

Thursday, February 5

Northridge, Calif

6:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

Cal Poly

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Photo by: Chuck Marvel

Matadors Battle Mustangs at Home, Travel to UC Riverside in Week of Big West Action

2/4/2026 1:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball

GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif --- The CSUN women's basketball team (6-14, 2-9 Big West) continues Big West action again this week when it hosts the Cal Poly Mustangs (3-18, 1-10 Big West) on Thursday and travels to UC Riverside (7-14, 5-6 Big West) on Saturday. Thursday's game at Premier America Credit Union Arena is set to tip-off at 6:00 p.m. while Saturday's game gets underway at the SRC Arena at 2:00 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+. Jill Painter-Lopez and Graham Metzker will have the call for Thursday's contest.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
vs UC Davis 1/29
CSUN fell to the Aggies by a score of 68-51 at University Credit Union Center in Davis last Thursday. Saray White and Alondra Lizama led the Matadors with 15 points each. The Aggies were victorious despite being outscored 24-16 in the fourth. After the Matadors were down the majority of the game, the fourth quarter turned out to be a building block. CSUN posted their best offensive quarter of the night. White had 10 points in the period off three made field goals and two made threes. Lizama was a big contributor as well, scoring 12 out of her 15 points in the fourth as CSUN showed fight until the final whistle.

vs UC San Diego 1/31
The Matadors fell to the Tritons by a score of 82-67 at LionTree Arena in La Jolla this past Saturday. Erika Aspajo led the Matadors with 20 points. Lizama chipped in 14 as well. For the second time in three games, Aspajo scored 20 points, leading the team both times. Lizama scored in double-figures in back-to-back games. The Matadors were defeated despite outscoring UCSD in the second (24-18) and third (18-17) quarters. CSUN had a solid shooting performance, as it went 8/16 from behind the arc. CSUN also made 13-14 free-throws.

JITE HAS BEEN A STAR TRANSFER
Jite Gbemuotor has made a huge impact this season after transferring from Ole Miss. The sophomore from Delta State, Nigeria, has scored in double figures in six out of the last nine games and in eight games total. She also leads the team in double-doubles with three, (01/08 at Cal Poly), (01/10 vs Cal State Fullerton). She has led CSUN in rebounding in seven different games so far this year, while leading the Matadors in rebounds per game at 7.7 per contest. She also averages 8.5 rebounds per game in Big West games alone, which is good for third in the conference.

SHOTS FROM DISTANCE IS THE NAME OF OUR GAME
CSUN gets a lot of its offense from three-point shots. Currently, CSUN is 37th in the nation in three-pointers made per game, which is good for fourth in the Big West. Rita Nazario currently paces the team in three-pointers made on the year, as she has drilled 50 shots from distance. Morgan Edwards is second on the team with 24 made. Six different Matadors have drilled double-digit shots from downtown so far this year.

BRINGING DOWN THE BOARDS
CSUN currently leads the Big West in rebounds per game at 39.7. Gbemuotor is currently pacing the Matadors with 142 rebounds this season, while Nadia Bernard and Saray White each have 82. Every Matador has at least 22 rebounds this season, with seven different Matadors averaging at least three rebounds per game.

SCOUTING CAL POLY
The Mustangs come into Thursday's contest on a seven-game losing streak as their overall record sits at 3-18 and 1-10 in Big West play. Cal Poly is coming off a close contest against UC Riverside, the Mustangs falling 70-66 at home this past Saturday.

Overall, Cal Poly is second-to-last in the Big West at points per game at 57.4. The Mustangs are also 10th in the conference in points allowed at 73.3. Despite Cal Poly ranking near the bottom in scoring, the Mustangs have two dynamic scorers. Vanessa McManus is second in the Big West with 19.1 points per game. She put up 34 points against Southern Utah earlier this year. Freshman forward Charish Thompson is 13th in the Big West in scoring at 13.6, and has a season-high of 29 which she scored at Seattle U in November.

Cal Poly averages the most turnovers per game in the Big West at 21.2.

Series History: Cal Poly is currently 18-14 all-time against CSUN. These two teams matched up earlier this season on January 8 in San Luis Obispo, and CSUN came up victorious, 77-68.

SCOUTING UC RIVERSIDE
The Highlanders are currently 7-14 overall and sit at seventh place in the Big West with a 5-6 record. UCR is coming off a week where it defeated Cal Poly and lost to Long Beach State, with both games being decided by four points or less.

In Big West games, UCR is sixth in the conference in scoring at 64.7. The Highlanders on the defensive end are seventh in the Big West at 66.5 points per game. UCR has the highest scoring player in the conference in Hannah Wickstrom. The sophomore from Australia is currently averaging 24.7 PPG in Big West games. She won Big West Player of the Week back on January 19.

Series History : UCR is currently 43-34 all-time against the Matadors. The Highlanders are currently riding a four game win-streak. Saturday's game is the first meeting between these two teams this season.