The Cal State Northridge women’s basketball team was defeated once again Friday night, but this time to Eastern Washington, 68-50. Bridgette Conejo, who scored 21 points, was the lone bright spot for the Matadors.
Conejo had a career day at the charity stripe with 10 free throws made. Conejo was the only Matador to score in double figures. Katrina Thompson was the team’s second leading scorer with nine.
If Northridge continues to lose games, they could start to lose confidence. When a team loses day in and day out, their problems snowball quickly. Players could begin to question themselves, and some players may stop caring about basketball.
With the Eastern Washington defeat, the Matadors have have now lost three straight games.
The Matador women had 26 turnovers, but it wasn’t because the Eagles had a spectacular defense.
“It was nothing they forced, we just mishandled the ball,” CSUN head coach Staci Schulz said.
“We made mistakes that we shouldn’t have made,” Analee Viena-Lota said.
The Matadors were not focused, and the Eagles, who converted 29 points out of Northridge’s turnovers, made them pay for their mistakes.
Furthermore, when a team is turning over the ball a lot, it will most likely hurt their consistency on offense.
CSUN shot 28.6 percent from the 3-point line and 33.3 percent from the field in the second half.
Not only did the Matadors forget to bring their offense, but they also struggled on defense. The Eagles were 8-of-14 shooting from the 3-point line. Also, Eastern Washington shot 42.4 percent from the field.
Washington had one player in double figures, Brianne Ryan, who had 11 points and was 5-of-11 from the field.
The Eagles did nothing special. They just outplayed the Matadors, and took the victory from them.
So, how can the Matadors get their confidence back? They need to win a game, and not think about their record.
A lot of times a young team like the Matadors will start looking at their poor record. They could see how bad it is and continue playing like it.
The team wrapped up its road trip with a 80-47 loss against Gonzaga on Sunday afternoon and will return home to face Miami (OH) on Dec. 20 and South Dakota on Dec. 29.
