Despite holding the Roadrunner's top scorer Katie Williams to 12 points, eight under her season average, and out rebounding CSUB 37 to 32, the Redhawks were unable to put it together for a full 40 minutes to head home with a win.
In the first half, SU committed 12 turnovers, but tallied 22 boards to keep the game neck-and-neck. The first period showcased the Redhawks and their ability to go deep into the bench. Junior Tatiana Heck (Mountlake Terrace, Wash.) used her size at the post and maneuvered around the very aggressive Bakersfield defense. She scored seven of her team-leading 11 points in the first, and on the game she was 3-for-9 from the field and 7-for-10 from the charity stripe.
While SeattleU went into the locker room for the intermission down 34-29, they were battling hard against a physical and fast CSUB team. They got the 'Runners into early foul trouble and were able to capitalize on their bonus free throw shots.
The second half began sluggish on both ends, but it CS Bakersfield's tight man-on-man defense and front court press that stymied the Redhawk offense. SU was held to only 18 points in the second half, while the Roadrunners scored 31 points to earn their 10th victory of the season.
On the night, SeattleU shot 31.3 percent (15-for-48) from the field, while Bakersfield was 43.6 percent (24-for-55).
For the Redhawks, Julee Christianson (Missoula, Mont.), Jamie Johnson (Chicago, Ill.) and Monica Nevi (Renton, Wash.) each earned their first starts of the season.
"We need to get in the gym and play," said head coach Joan Bonvicini on looking forward. "The players need to do extra work with the coaches and by themselves. We need to get our confidence back, because I think we are a lot better team than how we are playing right now. They will have a couple days off to relax and get refreshed, and we'll get back to it on Tuesday."
SeattleU will finally return home after a hard three-game road swing to host Longwood University on Thursday, Jan. 21. Tip time is set for 5:30 p.m. in the Connolly Center.