Going down the wire in a seesaw battle between teams in the opposite poles of the Big West Conference standings Thursday night, it was Cal State Fullerton’s turn at attempting to swing up on the scoreboard, and guard Kwame Vaughn delivered with a head-first driving layup to put his team up two. Given only 3.8 seconds to shoot back, the Matadors were in a dangerous territory. Even more so because they were out of timeouts. “We lost some timeouts I… Read more

Two years ago, the Matadors had an overall record of 11-21, their worst season under Bobby Braswell’s 16 years as head coach. Throughout that 2009-10 season, Braswell lost patience with the lack of leadership and chemistry the team displayed. With 17 games gone by, this year’s Matadors, who have a record of 5-12, are on pace to finish with more than 21 losses. To make matters worse, CSUN lost by 46 points to Cal Poly Saturday and allowed the Mustangs… Read more

It has been a season of nail biters for the Matadors so far, and they didn’t disappoint again Wednesday night. Down by two points after a free throw made by Titan guard Kathleen Iwuoha, CSUN (11-9, 6-2 Big West) was down 47-45 with 1:41 left in the second half. Then 31 seconds later Matador forward Jessica Duarte sank a 3-pointer to put her team up by one. But Fullerton wouldn’t go away, splitting a pair of free throws to tie… Read more

Westwood – Despite just having gotten swept emphatically by No. 3 UCLA, CSUN outside hitter Julius Hoefer showed a lot of conviction in expressing most of the credit for the Bruins’ victory Wednesday night belonged to the Matadors. “They (the Bruins) didn’t really beat us, we beat ourselves,” said Hoefer, who led the Matadors with nine kills during the 25-18, 25-15, 25-12 Mountain Paficic Sports Federation loss at the John Wooden Center. “We were passing badly, we didn’t kill anymore…. Read more

Coming off a down-to-the-wire victory, CSUN is looking to get on a winning streak at UCLA tonight at the John Wooden Center. The Matadors (2-4, 1-2 MPSF) pulled off a thrilling five-set win in their last game against the then No. 8-ranked Long Beach State 49ers Friday night in the Matadome. After exchanging victories in the first two sets with the 49ers, CSUN dropped the third and put itself in a 2-1 hole. The Matadors attack managed to finish with… Read more

Finding itself tied for first in the Big West Conference, CSUN (10-9, 5-2 Big West) looks to bounce back from its double-overtime loss as it faces Cal State Fullerton (8-10, 1-5) tonight at Titan Gym. This season’s current success has a lot to do with the combination of senior center Jasmine Erving and her leadership abilities and the energy and youth of freshman guard Ashlee Guay. “(Guay’s) a worker,” CSUN head coach Jason Flowers said after the team’s win against… Read more

Rafael Garcia has been a fan of the Los Angeles Galaxy since he was a child. Now he has a chance to put on the jersey and take the field as a member of the squad after being drafted in the second round with the 38th overall pick of the MLS Supplemental Draft. “This was one of the best moments of my life,” Garcia said. “I honestly didn’t think I’d end up on the Galaxy, I just wanted to play… Read more

CSUN head coach Bobby Braswell has always preached to his team that if you play defense, the offense will come later, but with 17 games gone by, the Matadors’ offense has yet to be seen. “You just keep preaching it, you keep doing it,” said Braswell after his team’s poor offensive performance paved the way to yet another loss at UC Santa Barbara Thursday. “You have to have some resistance and keep playing with heart. Keep fighting and keep believing… Read more

Adding to their winter woes, the Matadors broke down both offensively and defensively and lost by their biggest margin yet as they fell 100-54 against the Mustangs Saturday night at Mott Gym. Cal Poly’s relentless 3-point barrage, which cut through CSUN’s defense like a hot knife through snow, was a perfect 11-of-11 at halftime where the Mustangs led by 27. Cal Poly finished the game shooting 15-of-21 from behind the arc, and shot nearly 61 percent from the field for… Read more