Cal Poly Women’s Basketball got the job done in the form of a 51-42 road win against CSU Bakersfield on Wednesday, Feb. 15 inside the Icardo Center.
The win was the Mustangs’ (8-15, 5-10 Big West) second straight, and gave them the season sweep against the Roadrunners (6-17, 3-12 Big West). On top of this, it is the first time Cal Poly has won consecutive games this season.
The most action the game saw took place within the opening quarter of play. After CSU Bakersfield jumped out to a very quick lead with the game’s opening bucket, the Mustangs took control and didn’t let go, rattling off two separate runs of 7-4 and 9-4 to give themselves a 16-10 lead with 1:22 to play in the opening frame.
However, it seemed as though the hosts for Wednesday evening’s contest would make it a fight all game, as they managed back-to-back layups in the quarter’s final 25 seconds, including one at the buzzer to cut the Mustang lead to 16-14.
Bakersfield continued to fight and tied the game up at 18 with 7:45 to go in the half, but the Mustangs suddenly shifted into a second gear defensively and held the Roadrunners to just four points the rest of the quarter.
However, Cal Poly couldn’t generate much offense of its own, managing only nine points for the quarter. In fact, both squads seemed to be anemic offensively during the final 2:30 of the half, as the only score either team had during that stretch came in the form of a three from Cal Poly sophomore point guard Annika Shah with 2:18 left to make the lead 25-22.
While it seemed as though the Mustangs may have had the momentum entering the second half, the third quarter played out identically to the second—they held the Roadrunners to just eight points but only generated nine of their own.
That defensive quarter gave the Mustangs a 34-30 advantage going into the game’s final 10 minutes.
It seemed like those final 10 minutes would shift the game into a slugfest, as Bakersfield made it just a three-point game at 38-35 with 6:23 to go. However, it was at that point that the Mustangs woke themselves up on both sides of the ball.
Cal Poly ripped off an 8-0 run over the next 2:10 of the game, giving themselves an 11-point lead—their largest of the game—with 3:33 to go. On the flip side, the defense only allowed two points over the next three minutes of the game, effectively icing the win thanks to a free throw from sophomore guard Jazzy Anousinh that made it 47-37 with 40 seconds to go.
Exactly 40 seconds and four points later, the 51-42 Mustang win was official.
The Mustangs won the shooting battle, converting 42.2% (19-45) from the floor while Bakersfield shot a measly 33.3% (17-51) on six more shots. Cal Poly also dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Roadrunners 36 to 26.
Individually, Anousinh was the only Mustang in double-digit scoring with 10 points, while graduate guard Oumou Toure added nine points and seven rebounds and sophomore guard Sydney Bourland collected 13 rebounds.
Up next, Cal Poly will look to keep the winning going when they return home for Senior Day to face the Cal State Fullerton Titans on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. inside the Mott Athletics Center.
