Though the Matadors were able to keep it close in the first half, the Gauchos ran away with the game in the second, showing why they are the No. 1 team in the Big West Conference and winning, 75-58, on Wednesday night at The Matadome.

The Matadors were only down by eight at halftime, but foul trouble and big play from Jenna Green of UC Santa Barbara gave the Gauchos a comfortable 14-point lead that they kept almost the entire second half.

Green had 26 points Wednesday night, many of those coming from inside the paint. Green’s height made it easy for her to clear the paint for short shots under the basket. Standing at 6’4”, she was about three inches taller than any of the Matador forwards. She also had 13 rebounds.

As far as the fouls, UCSB scored 28 points from the free-throw line. It was a big factor for the team, CSUN Head Coach Staci Schulz said.

‘Fouls were a big problem,’ Schulz said. ‘They scored a lot from the free-throw line and it hurt us a lot.’

Schulz said her team tried to attack, but it didn’t get the calls it needed.

One player that attacked the basket late in the game was guard Whitney Ligon.

Ligon scored 17 points and hit seven free-throws, a couple of them coming off hard fouls.

Helping out in the game, Katrina Thompson scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds. In the first half, she out-rebounded Green on the defensive side of the court.

Thompson battled inside the paint with the 6-foot-4 Green, but still was able to score six points in the first 20 minutes.

CSUN kept it close in the opening half. At the end of it, they were only down by eight, 36-28.

The fouls put the Gauchos at the line many times, giving them a big amount of their points. Sixteen points came from the free-throw line in the first half.

Green ruled the paint early, with 6-2 forward Jasmine Erving not seeing a lot of play time. Green finished the first half with 15 points and five rebounds.

The Matadors worked the post with Thompson and the outside with Tonicia Tademy. Tademy liked shots from the left side, most of the time pulling up from that corner.

Even with the match-up difference, Thompson managed to gather three defensive rebounds while Green had no offensive ones.

Rebounds affected second-chance shots. The Gauchos out-rebounded CSUN 50-33

The Matadors’ next game will be at home on Saturday against Cal Poly. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.