NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Women's Basketball team (10-9, 4-5 Big West) is coming off of a tough stretch of games at home after dropping both contests last weekend. The Gauchos will continue Big West play on the road this week, visiting the CSUN Matadors (3-15, 1-8 Big West) this Thursday before taking on Long Beach State (11-7, 7-2 Big West) on Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT
Santa Barbara battled in their recent conference matchups but ultimately fell short against UC San Diego and Cal State Fullerton over the weekend. In the narrow loss to the Titans, the Gauchos attempted to tie the game with one last shot which barely bounced off the rim. Alyssa Marin had yet another steady game leading the offense for the Gauchos, notching a team-high 13 points. Martha Pietsch had a standout night for the Gauchos as well, adding 12 points and leading the team in three-point field goals. Kanani Coon and Zoe Borter led Santa Barbara on the defensive front, contributing 5 rebounds each.
MEETING THE MATADORS
CSUN is still searching for momentum in conference play at this point in the season. With a record of 1-8, the Matadors have only beaten Cal State Fullerton while falling to the rest of their matchups thus far.
Offensively, the Matadors rank third in the conference in 3-point field goals made, posting 126 on the season so far. Defensively, they also rank as the third-best team in the conference in both total rebounds and offensive rebounds.
Leading the Matadors, Morgan Edwards ranks first in scoring, averaging 9.1 points per game. Erika Aspajo contributes greatly to the team's offensive success as well, ranking first in the conference in assists averaging 4.9 per game, third in free throw percentage at .829, fourth in assist/turnover ratio, and fifth in steals. Yvez Cox gets it done on the defensive front for the Matadors, averaging 6.4 per game and 17 blocks on the season.
BATTLING THE BEACH
Long Beach State has positioned themselves near the top of Big West rankings, sitting third overall and tied with Hawaii and UC Irvine for most conference wins. They've only dropped two conference games on the season, falling to Cal Poly and UC San Diego.
The Beach tops The Big West in a handful of statistical categories, leading the conference in scoring, total rebounds and offensive rebounds while ranking second in defensive rebounds and assists. Facing the Beach on the road is a tough feat as well, as they rank second in conference game attendance behind notoriously difficult place to play Hawai'i.
For the Beach, Savannah Tucker leads the way offensively. She leads the conference in both scoring and assists/turnover ratio, at 15.8 points per game and 1.7 assists per turnover. A scorer who can put the ball in the basket from anywhere on the floor, Tucker also leads her team in field goals, three-pointers and free throws. Jada Crawshaw follows closely behind, ranking second on the team in points, field goals and free throws. Crawshaw also leads the team in turnovers forced. Rachel Loobie gets it done for the Beach's defense, leading the team in rebounds and blocked shots averaging 7.6 and 1.2, respectively.
FOLLOW ALONG
The Gauchos and Matadors will tip off at 11 a.m. from the Premier America Credit Union Arena in Northridge on Thursday. UC Santa Barbara will then head to Walter Pyramid in Long Beach to tip-off against the Beach at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Both games will be live on ESPN+ with live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com/WBBLiveStats.
