Junior Julia Nielacna’s game-winning layup with 12 seconds left on the clock gave Cal Poly women’s basketball their first road victory of the year by the score of 56-55 over CSU Northridge on Thursday, Feb. 10 inside the Matadome.
Cal Poly’s (3-14, 2-6 Big West) win over the Matadors (7-13, 3-7 Big West) jumped them out of last place in the Big West standings. The struggling Mustangs have been playing better as of late, beating Cal State Fullerton last Thursday and barely losing to top-seeded Long Beach State, 64-65, in double overtime.
The game started out just as the Mustangs wanted, as they led by 20 going into the half.
After a Matador 4-3 point early lead, the Mustangs went on a 12-2 run to end the first quarter and would not give the momentum back in the half.
While up 22-13 with 6:26 left in the second quarter, the Mustangs proceeded to hold the Matadors scoreless for the rest of the half. The 33-13 lead at the break was predicated on the Mustangs’ ability to hold the Matadors to 3-24 shooting from the field.
The second half was a different story. The comfrotable 20-point lead was sliced to 11 as the Matadors outscored the Mustangs 22-13 in the third quarter.
Finding their groove from the outside, the Matadors looked to make it a game in the fourth.
Opening the quarter with a three to cut the lead to single digits and then going on a 14-4 run over the next six minutes of gameplay to tie the ball game up at 52-52, the Madators were in full control of the game heading down the stretch.
After a quick bucket by the Mustangs to take a 54-52 lead, both teams had empty possessions before CSUN’s Kayanna Spriggs converted an and-one to put the Matadors ahead 55-54.
With the ball and 16 seconds left on the clock, CSUN’s point guard aired a pass into the stands as she tried to get the ball into the post, which gave Cal Poly the opportunity to take the lead with a bucket.
Because of a timeout to spare, the Mustangs took the ball out in the frontcourt and quickly got it into junior guard Maddie Vick, who had 15 points on the night. She dribbled down the baseline, drawing two defenders in and dished it to an open Nielacna at the low post, who calmly laid the ball in for the lead.
Cal Poly held on defense for one last possession and solidified their third win of the year, 56-55.
It wasn’t the prettiest offensive game for the Mustangs, who shot 43% from the field and had 17 turnovers. However, the defense carried the team, as they held CSUN to under 30% from the field and caused 15 takeaways.
Cal Poly will travel to Santa Barbara on Saturday, Feb. 12 to play in the second Green-Blue game of the season against UC Santa Barbara inside the UCSB Event Center at 4 p.m.