The CSUN Matadors managed to swat away the intense defensive swarm thrown at them by the Sacramento State University Hornet’s 81-66 Sunday afternoon at the Matadome, gaining another regular-season victory against a Big Sky team.
Sacramento ran a game that was what CSUN head coach Jason Flowers said, probably the “only one of its kind” the Matadors will face this year.
“We had a game plan going into it,” senior guard Ashlee Guay said. “But it’s a difficult system to play against.”
The Hornets came out ready to sting. They never let off a full-court press, despite how many fouls they racked up and how many of their own key players their tactics ousted.
The only real good that came out of the Hornet’s furious defensive game were 12 steals and 23 turnovers from the Matadors, which served as a petulance for CSUN, but caused no severe damage.
CSUN countered by running a stiff defense that Sacramento couldn’t make up for in the wings. For every drive they attempted, the Matadors had a taller post to swat them down.
Sacramento got real close to catching CSUN at 12:51 in the second half, but shortly after, they started to lose players to fouls, and with them, their chance for a victory.
The Hornet’s fouled out three key players, and at midpoint in the second half, valuable shooters Fantasia Hilliard and Takara Burse were benched, along with guard Brianna Burgos.
This took the sting out of the Hornets and as the game closed they fell victim to CSUN’s guard Cinnamon Lister, who landed all five of her attempted 3-pointers for the game.
“We stayed composed,” Lister said. “We knew they were going to come with traps.”
CSUN proved effective in adapting their offense against the Hornets. At times when the guards couldn’t make it to the arc, a pass to centers or guards in the paint paid off.
Freshman center Tessa Boagni proved promising once again by putting up 13 points for the Matadors, and sticking to the post when Sacramento’s defense proved overwhelming for the guards.
The Hornet’s frustration was visible at the wire, as they sent CSUN guard Ashlee Guay barreling into the out-of-bounds tables.
Though the Hornet’s nest had been stirred somehow, in the end it proved to be all show. Sacramento shot at 32.3 percent for the game, with CSUN shooting at more than double with 68.3 percent.
For all the fury the Hornets buzzed, it didn’t help them in the offensive nor prevent a wire-to-wire victory for the Matadors.
“Obviously they had their dukes out,” CSUN’s head coach Flowers said. “It was a good challenge.”
CSUN will play in Utah Wednesday against the Brigham Young University Cougars. The Cougars went to the third round in the 2014 NCAA tournament where they were defeated 70-51 by the University of Connecticut Huskies, who then went on to win the championship.
