With only seven games left in the season, that first win that the CSUN women’s basketball team is so desperately seeking is becoming more and more elusive.
The UC Davis Aggies were the latest team to continue the Matadors’ misery, as they executed on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor and sent CSUN to an 86-48 defeat at the Matadome on Saturday night.
The loss was the Matadors’ 20th of the season and keeps them alongside Fordham University as the only two Division I teams that are winless on the season. Fordham is 0-24 and 0-9 in Atlantic Sun Conference play.
UC Davis shot 53 percent from the field, including a 58 percent clip in the first half and connected on 11 of 20 three-pointers (55 percent). CSUN only shot 37 percent for the night.
But perhaps the one stat that stands out from Saturday night’s game was the 35 turnovers the Matadors committed. In fact, CSUN had more turnovers (21) than shot attempts (19) in the first half.
Junior center Crystal Hahs scored the game’s first bucket at 19:48, but it was all UC Davis from there, as they scored 17 straight points and the Matadors went six minutes without a field goal. Coincidentally, it was Hahs that broke the six-minute dry spell.
The Aggies led by as many as 22 points and the closest the Matadors got was 14, the last time at 32-18 with 5:29 left in the first half, but UC Davis finished up on a 20-8 run to lead 52-26 at halftime.
The second half was more of the same. UC Davis scored the first five points to push its lead above 30 points. The Aggie lead sunk below 30 points only once and it reached 40 points on a lay-up by junior forward Hayley Donaghe with 6:36 left in the game.
“I just need them to find the heart and the desire,” said a dejected Staci Schulz after the game.
UC Davis had four players in double figures. Donaghe and junior guard Genevieve Costello were the high scorers with 21 points apiece. Senior forward Heather Bates scored 15 points and senior forward Jessica Campbell scored 10 points.
Junior guard Whitney Ligon was the only Matador to reach double digits, as she scored 21 points, 15 of those coming from the three-point line. The only other bright spot for CSUN was that it out-rebounded UC Davis 34-28.
The Matadors head out on the road to face the UC Riverside Highlanders on Saturday at 5 p.m.
