Throughout the course of this season, Cal Poly Women’s Basketball head coach Shanele Stires has relied on her returning players in crucial moments of games, and Thursday was no different.
Each of the four returners, Annika Shah, Sierra Lichtie, Natalia Ackerman, and Sydney Bourland, played crucial roles in Cal Poly (12-9, 8-4 in Big West) taking down Cal State Northridge (2-20, 0-12 in Big West) by a score of 75-68 on Feb. 8 in Mott Athletic Center.
Shah led the way for Cal Poly with a career-high 25 points while knocking down five three-pointers.
“I was trying to score at all three levels, but the three ball was just going for me,” Shah said. “Syd (Bourland) found me in the corner a couple of times, and I hit some transition threes, so that’s kind of what I stuck with and what was going for me.”
Ackerman would pitch in with a 17-point and 12-rebound double-double, the sixth of her remarkable senior season.
The Mustangs have been plagued by slow starts and turnovers for most of the season, and they found themselves in that same position tonight.
With eight first quarter turnovers, Cal Poly found themselves trailing CSUN 13-18 heading into the second.
It was in the second that the Mustangs would find a slight burst of energy after steals on two straight possessions by graduate guard Ania McNicholas to lower the deficit to two points heading into the break.
McNicholas would finish the game with six steals, and this was her fourth game this season with five or more.
CSUN would regain the momentum after halftime and extend the lead to 10 total points after two straight three-pointers from Kaitlyn Elsholz and Laney Amundson.
The Mustangs seemed to have little going for them until junior forward Sydney Bourland provided the ultimate spark the team needed.
She recorded three steals in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, on her way to a career-high of seven. It seemed as if each steal gave the Mustangs more and more life.
“We kind of had a lack of energy throughout the game,” Bourland said. “I knew if we got steals, things on defense, we were going to win the game.”
It was a Bourland transition layup off a steal that would give Cal Poly their first lead of the game with 5:25 remaining in the fourth.
After Bourland provided the spark, Cal Poly would never look back and went on to defeat CSUN by a final of 75-68.
“That’s why we call her the glue,” Shah said about Bourland, “It’s something that we can count on, every single game. She is going to bring that energy.”
Bourland, along with the other three returners would combine for 60 of Cal Poly’s 75 total points, and all four played a huge role in the victory.
Despite totaling 24 turnovers on the day, the Mustangs would win the turnover battle by forcing CSUN to 28 turnovers themselves.
The Mustangs, now in a three-way tie for third place in the Big West, will look to clean the turnovers up when they face off against Long Beach this upcoming Saturday, Feb. 10 at 2 p.m. inside Mott Athletic Center.