CSUN Closes Season With Hard Fought Loss to Fullerton at Big West Championship

Wednesday, March 11

Henderson, Nev.

12:00 pm

California State University at Northridge

10-20,6-14Big West

Cal State Fullerton

18-13,13-7Big West

CSUN

Cal St. Fullerton

Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Closes Season With Hard Fought Loss to Fullerton at Big West Championship

3/11/2026 4:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

HENDERSON, Nev. --- The CSUN women's basketball season concluded Wednesday with an 80-65 loss to the Cal State Fullerton Titans at Lee's Family Forum. Rita Nazario led the way with 17 points off the bench. Alondra Lizama had 14 while Erika Aspajo had 14 points as well. Jite Gbemuotor led in the rebounding category with eight in the game.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Titans started the game on a 15-4 run with six points coming from their leading scorer all year in Cristina Jones.

CSUN would not back down from the early deficit. The Matadors responded with a 10-4 run of their own to make it 19-14 with 2:31 left to play in the first. CSUN had points from Aspajo, Amya Moody, Nazario and Gbemuotor in the run. After cutting down the lead to as little as four with four seconds left, Maxine Sutisna had a half court heave to extend the lead to seven at 27-20 heading into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, after two made free-throws from the Titans, CSUN got the scoring started on its end with a long distance shot from Nazario. Alondra Lizama then made a driving layup to cut the lead back to four at 29-25 with 7:40 remaining. Fullerton countered with a mini 5-0 run to push the lead to nine at 34-25 with 7:07 left to play.

CSUN then went on a 6-0 run capped off by two Aspajo's free throws to make it 34-31 with 5:46 left to play in the half. In a game of runs, Fullerton proceeded to go on a 9-4 streak, extending the lead to eight at 43-35 with 2:31 left to play. After trading baskets, Aspajo made a driving layup with 45 seconds left to cut the lead to six at 45-39. It would stay that way heading into intermission.

SECOND HALF
The defense was on full display in the third quarter. The Titans made two layups to begin the things as they stretched the lead to 10 at 49-39. CSUN struck back with a 7-2 run capped off by a Saray White steal and score, thus cutting the lead to four at 51-47. After both teams traded buckets, a Moody pull-up jumpshot cut the lead to 54-51 going into the final 10 minutes. Moody went 3-3 in the quarter as she scored half of CSUN's 12 points in the third. CSUN held Fullerton to just nine points in the period, by far the lowest of any quarter in the game.

Nazario cut the lead to only one point with a driving layup to begin the fourth to make it 54-53 with 9:06 left to play. Fullerton then went on an 8-1 run that pushed the lead back to eight at 62-54 with 5:43 left to play. Jones had six of the eight points, as she finished the game with 32 total.

CSUN would then get the lead back to four once again thanks in part to a second chance layup from Lizama. 65-61 with 4:15 remaining. Unfortunately for the Matadors, Fullerton would then break the game open with a 15-4 run as the Titans put the game out of reach.

NOTES OF THE GAME

CSUN finishes the season 10-20 overall.
Aspajo, Lizama, Moody and Nazario accounted for 57 of CSUN' 65 points.
CSUN's bench outscored Fullerton's bench, 43-16.
CSUN shot nine percentage points higher from the field compared to Fullerton at 42% to 33%
Aspajo played all 40 minutes in the game.
36 of CSUN's 65 points came inside the paint.

ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH ANGIE NED
"The team had a good fight. I felt like we were in the game for most of it. Unfortunately, we didn't get the outcome we had wanted. We need to do a much better job of rebounding and defending without fouling. We struggled without some of our better players on the floor due to foul trouble. I felt like we got tired and lost our stamina. But overall, just to see the evolution and the journey of our players understanding what we're trying to get out of every possession and connectivity on both sides of the ball. What we have seen this year is promising. Our kids have really grown. They continue to improve and compete with each other. It's a huge step in the right direction as we continue on. I am really proud of our seniors and how they bought into the work. They did a phenomenal job of leading the team."