“They are a great three-point shooting team and our turnovers really hurt us early, so they took advantage of that,” said head coach Joan Bonvicini. “We weren’t able to really get on track until late in the first half and, unfortunately, we were playing catch up from there.”
The Redhawks responded with an 8-1 run just before the halftime break to trail, 43-32, at half on a jumper by Renee Dillard-Brown (Seattle, Wash.) bookended by a pair of Kaylee Best (Seattle, Wash.) three-pointers. The Matadors would, however, open the second half with a three-pointer by Cinnamon Lister and would not let Seattle U get within less than 10 for the remainder of the contest.
Janae Sharpe scored the first five points of the contest for CSUN over the first two and a half minutes before Wilma Afunugo (Plano, Texas) put the Redhawks on the board with a three-point play at 16:43.
Sharpe and Lister put the Matadors up by seven, 12-5, five and a half minutes into the contest and they would take their first double digit lead, 17-7, at 13:09 on a three-pointer by Katelin King.
CSUN would lead by as many as 15, 25-10, halfway through the opening period before Seattle U responded with a 6-0 run with contributions by three different Redhawks.
Another three by King with 8:10 remaining before half put CSU Northridge back ahead by double digits and they would hold their biggest lead of the half, 42-24, just two minutes before the break.
In the second half, CSUN would lead by as many as 26 points two different times, both within the final eight minutes of the contest.
Taelor Ross (Vancouver, Wash.) sunk a pair of free throws with 36 seconds remaining to pull SU within 23, which would be the final margin, falling 86-63.
Seattle U outrebounded CSU Northridge, 41-32 while Best led the Redhawks with a career-high 23 points and five three-pointers.
From behind the arc, SU had the better shooting percentage, shooting 50 percent (6-for-12), but the Matadors made 15-of-33 (45.5 percent). The Redhawks led from the free-throw line, shooting 13-for-22 (59.1 percent) while CSUN shot just 3-for-6 (50 percent).
Turnovers a key factor in the loss, Seattle U committed 18, only two of which were off steals, to CSUN’s eight.
The Redhawks have a quick turnaround, playing two games in as many days as they host CSU Fullerton on Sunday, Jan. 4 at 2 p.m. Fans who show a ticket from today’s contest will receive FREE admission to tomorrow’s game.
Tomorrow will also mark Seattle U’s non-conference finale as, next Saturday, they will close their four-game homestand and open Western Athletic Conference play vs. Utah Valley (Jan. 10, 4 pm).