Senior guard Annika Shah‘s 20 third-quarter points helped elevate Cal Poly Women’s Basketball to a 67-42 win over Seattle University in Mott Athletics Center on Friday.
Looking to bounce back after losing their last game by 32 to No. 1 UCLA on Monday, the Redhawks (2-10) kept it close with the Mustangs (5-6, 1-1 Big West) until their 28-point third quarter. That’s the most they’ve scored in a quarter this season.
Shah would also finish the day with a career-high 26 points.
Limiting turnovers
Turnovers have been a big issue for Cal Poly all season long, averaging almost 19 per game, but they limited their total turnover number to 13.
With only one turnover in the first quarter, the Mustangs jumped out to a huge 16-2 lead, but with seven turnovers in the second, Seattle cut the lead to 11 going into halftime.
From there, the Mustangs only had six total turnovers in the second half, which allowed them more opportunities for their offense to thrive and expand the lead. They did just that with the help of Shah and redshirt freshman guard Alana Goosby.
Human highlight reel
After struggling from three in the first half, Shah was able to work it inside and get some runners to go.
At halftime, she had six points but drilled three straight three-pointers in the third quarter. Including a deep three from about 30 feet from the basketball, ballooning the lead up to 25.
Then, the Redhawks were sending everything they had at Shah, and she dished the ball to Goosby, who knocked her first three-pointer of the season. Goosby would make another three to extend Cal Poly’s lead to 31, the largest it was at any point during the game.
Momentum for Big West play
Just two weeks away from 18 straight Big West games, Cal Poly has just one more non-conference game this season.
They’ll look to keep that momentum going into their final non-conference game of the season against Southern Utah on Saturday, Dec. 28.
The Mustangs begin conference play shortly after with two tough tasks in UC Irvine and Hawaii on Thursday, Jan. 2 and Saturday, Jan. 4.
