Led by freshman guard Janae Sharpe’s perfect shooting first half, the Matadors were up 35-25 at halftime as their defense forced 15 turnovers and held Washington to 27 percent shooting. But their second half defense allowed 48 points on 50 percent shooting as CSUN lost its second game in a row to the Huskies 73-67 in a tightly called turnover-fest Saturday evening at the Hec Edmundson Pavilion. “Plain and simple, we didn’t get stops,” said head coach Jason Flowers. “In… Read more

With the Matadors having the youngest roster in Division I basketball, it’s understandable if they have a couple rough outings to start the year, but what happened at Boise State Saturday afternoon was atrocious. CSUN recorded its third straight loss to open the season after it was demolished 103-61 against the Broncos at Taco Bell Arena. It was Northridge’s tenth-worst defeat in school history. Redshirt freshman guard Stephan Hicks continued his superb play with a career-high 23 points, topping his… Read more

CSUN setter Sydney Gedryn declined comment as she was consoled by her parents outside the Matadome. Casey Hinger, the vocal CSUN middle blocker, also passed on sharing her postgame thoughts. It was all very understandable Friday, a night that started out like a Jason Vorhees movie and began to turn into a Katy Perry song right before UC Santa Barbara proceeded to rip the Matadors’ hearts out with a 3-2 win. The Matadors (14-13, 8-7 Big West) fought back from… Read more

They were only trailing by four points at the end of the half, keeping up with the Pac-12 team. But that’s as close as the Matadors would get for the rest of the night. Going ice cold in the second half, CSUN (2-1) froze in an 83-63 loss to Oregon State (3-0) Thursday night at Gill Coliseum. At the beginning of the second half, the Matadors had two quick turnover that turned into four Beaver points. CSUN head coach Jason… Read more

The Matadors (14-12, 8-6 Big West) plan to keep their hopes of finishing in second place in the Big West Conference alive as they once again face the Gauchos (16-11, 9-5) Friday night at the Matadome. The teams faced off on Nov. 9 with UC Santa Barbara coming up with the 3-0 victory and knocking CSUN a game back in the standings. While Long Beach State (19-6, 13-2) has first place locked up, the Matadors could finish alone in second… Read more

The Matadors were only down four points at halftime against Hawai’i Tuesday morning, but a 11-2 run by the Rainbow Warriors to start the second half paved the way for CSUN’s 86-67 lopsided loss. Fatigue could have played a factor in the Matadors’ second-half collapse with a long flight to Honolulu and a 11 p.m. (1 a.m PST) tip-off time, but senior guard Vinnie McGhee doesn’t want to make excuses. “We should be able to play at any given time… Read more

Defense was the key factor that has placed the CSUN women’s basketball team in a 2-0 start to its season. The Matadors round out their four-game road trip with games against Oregon State (2-0) tonight and Washington (1-1) Saturday. Though the Matadors have played two games this season, stats show their effectiveness so far on the defensive end. The team has contained their opponents to 28.4 percent shooting and 32 steals. Center Jasmine Erving and guard Janae Sharpe lead the… Read more

The NBA Players Association has melodramatically rejected every proposal sent their way by the owners since the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) expired, and its denial of the most recent one may have just axed the entire 2011-2012 season. Commissioner David Stern issued an ultimatum last week. He made it quite apparent: if the players declined taking a 51 (players)/49 (owners) percent split of the revenues, the owners would take the offer off the table and further proposals would be worse…. Read more

The 3-pointer-happy Rainbow Warriors (1-0) left an impression enduring enough for the Matadors (0-2) to take into next season when Hawai’i will join them in the Big West Conference. Hawai’i, who will join the Big West starting the 2012-13 season, hit the Matadors with three quick 3-pointers to start the second half and turned a tight affair into an 86-67 runaway victory Tuesday morning at the Stan Sheriff Center. The long-distance baskets –two of them from guard Shaquille Stokes –… Read more