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NORTHRIDGE, Calif- For the front end of their two-game road trip in Northridge, UCSB knew CSUN was the top rebounding team in the Big West.
On Wednesday night, they found out the hard way first hand why.
UCSB (9-10, 4-2) was out-rebounded 47-27, and fell behind early never to recover in a 75-61 loss to the CSUN Matadors (9-11, 2-4) at the Matadome.
"They beat us at our game. Pushed it in transition, threw it inside, drove and kick, then they picked on some match ups in on-ball screen action. We've got to guard better one-on-one," said head coach Bonnie Herickson.
Four players scored in double figures, lead by Drea Toler's 14 off the bench, while Aliceah Hernandez set a career-high with 13 points in her first start of the season. Onome Jemerigbe also scored 13 while dealing a team-best four assists, and Coco Miller had ten points with a game-high six steals.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak, and was the second Gauchos defeat in six games away from Isla Vista. Sarah Porter did not dress after suffering an injury during the first quarter of the game against Hawaii on January 21st.
"The issue is everybody had to do more, and we did less. Championship teams don't do that. Somebody steps up, everybody's got to do a little more," Henrickson said.
CSUN was powered by a pair of career-highs, getting 28 points from Serafina Maulupe, and 21 points off the bench from Cheyenne Allen. Channon Fluker recorded her conference best 12th double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 boards, and Eliza Matthews snatched a game-topping 12 rebounds.
Maulupe's jumper 17 seconds in gave the hosts a lead they'd never relinquish, as the Matadors scored the first six points of the game. UCSB managed just five points in the first 5:07 when Jemerigbe knocked down a three pointer from the left wing, en route to making just four of their 13 attempts in the opening ten minutes. Conversely, the Matadors made nine of 14, over 64% of their shots, in the first to lurch out to a 19-10 lead when the horn sounded.
"We made some bad decisions, didn't see the ball, and didn't play with discipline on the defensive end. There's as much defensive discipline as there is offensive discipline," said Henrickson.
The hosts added to their edge by scoring eight of the first ten points in the second quarter, ballooning the advantage to 15. The Gauchos were able to claw back as close as eight when Miller came away with a steal and layup at the six minute mark, but Allen and Maulupe combined for six of the next eight. At halftime CSUN held a 36-25 lead.
"Coco had six steals, five in the first half. Somebody's got to join that party, being aggressive, getting on the floor and knocking balls down," Henrickson said.
Miller's triple opened the third quarter to cut the lead to single digits, but UCSB were unable to draw any closer. A Jemerigbe slash and score made it a nine point game with 1:41 played, but from then on the teams traded scores and the Matadors were gradually able to grow the lead out to 16. Allen hit a tri-ball and Maulupe made a layup to give CSUN their biggest lead of the game, but Toler's drive and score made it 52-38 headed to the final frame.
Hernandez opened the fourth with a three, and scored eight of UCSB's first 12 points of the quarter to trip the deficit to eight. Jemerigbe's jumper at the 2:34 mark brought the Gauchos within seven, and after a missed three had an opportunity to claw closer, but a missed layup stymied the push.
From there a Fluker bucket shoved the lead back up to nine, and UCSB began fouling to try and save the remaining two minutes. Allen scored eight of her 21 points from the free throw line, as CSUN saw the result through by making 11 of 16 from the stripe.
Though the Gauchos won the turnover battle, giving it away 10 times while creating 15 turnovers that they converted in to 18 points, CSUN's 20-board advantage lead to a 12-5 advantage in second chance points and a 30-26 edge in the paint. The Matadors out-shot UCSB by a 48.2%-40.0% margin, despite UCSB attempting nine more field goals.
"Your defense should always, if you're consistently committed to it, consistently give you a chance," said Henrickson. "We're not going to rely on making nine threes every night, we've got to be able to get to the rim, but you've got to guard."
UCSB has an extra day off, with three Big West games tipping off tomorrow night. The Gauchos are back in action Saturday on the road against the UC Irvine Anteaters at 2 PM. Listen to live play-by-play coverage on ucsbgauchos.com beginning with the pregame show at 1:45 PM.
"You've got to be ready to play, it doesn't matter who you play, where you play, it matters how you play. Our 'how', our process has to be better on Saturday," Henrickson said.
