A new season began for the CSUN women’s basketball team Monday night officially kicking off Matadors’ head coach Angie Ned’s tenure. The Matadors faced off against the La Sierra Golden Eagles, who compete in the NAIA.
In what was expected to be an easy season-opening game, the Golden Eagles put up a fight as the Matadors pulled away in the second half securing their first win of the season, 70-56.
Matadors guard Erica Adams recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and added five assists to go along with. Adams said the team has plenty of room to grow despite the win.
“It was definitely a wake up call, but this was also our first game playing with each other. Brand new team, brand new coaching staff,” Adams said. “ So, that was our little positive perspective on it, but we know we have to play much better coming out in the beginning of the game.”
The Matadors shot a paltry 23.8 percent from the field, as they made 10 of 42 field goal attempts. That included shooting just 3-18 from three point range.
Adams didn’t have the best start as she shot 1-9 in the first half, indicating how the offense was going for CSUN in that first half.
They also committed 12 turnovers, careless passes in transition, or in a half court set the Matadors seemed to be stumbling out of the gate.
In the blink of an eye they were faced with a 39-27 deficit at half, as La Sierra dominated the Matadors for the first two quarters. At one point the Golden Eagles went on a 19-2 run as CSUN had no answer in the first half..
On the flip side, the Golden Eagles took full advantage of the poor shooting night from CSUN as they shot 16-32 from the field. La Sierra guard Kaydn Mew led the way for the Golden Eagles the entire night as she finished with 14 points, five steals, and five rebounds.
“We weren’t working hard enough defensively, our defensive effort and presence wasn’t there, and because of that the other team got easy points at the basket,” Ned said.
As soon as CSUN touched the ball to start the third quarter, guard Karsen Marshall airballed the team’s first shot attempt and the crowd fell silent. This could have been a sign of how the second half could have played out for the Matadors.
However, in the blink of an eye, the CSUN defense re-energized the arena causing multiple shot clock violations and forcing stops. The Matadors turned the defensive energy into points on the offensive end, going on a 9-0 run to pull within just three points.
With 5:10 left in the third quarter, CSUN pulled ahead with a pair of free throws from guard Morgan Edwards for their first lead since the midway mark of the first quarter. Edwards would finish as the team’s second leading scorer, ending her night with 10 points.
“We put a lot of emphasis on the team that comes out playing super hard in the third quarter is going to come out on top and win the game,” Adams said.
From that point on, the Matadors did not look back, as they would control the flow of the game for the rest of the third quarter and all of the fourth.
CSUN shot much better in the second half shooting 43.8 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from behind the arc.
The Matadors caused havoc on defense, holding La Sierra to 20.6 percent from the field in the second half, and forced 11 more turnovers.
“We just had to lock in on defense, we had to be committed to the work, once we were able to get stops everything worked a little bit easier for us,” Ned said.
Adams flipped a switch in the second half shooting 4-7 from the field and perfect from the free throw line.
“It was honestly our mindset, there was nothing that La Sierra was doing that was extraordinary that we couldn’t defend. We really shot ourselves in the foot,” Adams said. “When we came into the locker at halftime we threw the first half away.
CSUN hits the road for their first road matchup of the season facing off against the Utah State Aggies Friday Nov. 8, at 8 p.m.
