Faith Mimnaugh earned her 100th victory as head coach for the Cal Poly woman’s basketball team and senior forward Jessica Eggleston had another big game as the Mustangs cruised to a relatively comfortable 77-62 Big West Conference victory against Pacific on Thursday at Mott Gym.
Eggleston finished with a game-high 24 points, one off her career best, and eight rebounds. She was even 3 for 3 from beyond the arc.
“She was out of sight, she was really in a flow,” Mimnaugh said of Eggleston. “I’m really happy for her. She’s one of the best players in the conference.”
Eggleston, who had 19 points at the half, said hitting early shots opened up the lane for her later in the game. She said she came into the game focused on attacking the basket, something her coaches had been impressing on her.
“That helped me tonight,” she said. “I went strong to the hole and finished strong and didn’t let the defense dictate my offense.”
The Mustangs (6-12, 2-4 Big West) held the Tigers to 34.7 percent shooting for the game, 28.6 percent in the first half, and forced them into 26 turnovers. Pacific shot a dismal 19 percent for 3-pointers on 21 attempts for the game.
For the game, Cal Poly shot 46.6 percent from the field and 35 percent on 3-pointers. Cal Poly sophomore forward Megan Harrison contributed 13 points and freshman guard Ashlee Stewart finished with eight assists.
The Tigers posed a threat when they opened the second half on a 9-0 run to pull within four points of the Mustangs. Two made free throws later to cut their deficit to 47-45 with 14:19 to play.
But the Tigers would get no closer as five Mustangs contributed to a 17-2 run to pull ahead 64-47 with 7 minutes, 40 seconds to play. The Mustangs were never threatened thereafter.
After the game, Mimnaugh deflected praise on reaching 100 victories onto the people she has worked with since becoming head coach in 1997. She is 100-164 in her Cal Poly career.
“It means more for the program and the people who believed in me, both athletes and coaches,” she said. “When you’re building a program and you don’t have a rich tradition to recruit to, it takes a lot of faith to keep recruiting great athletes. It’s a compliment to the players and this program.”
Ten of the last 12 meetings between Cal Poly and Pacific have been decided by nine or more points. The Tigers (7-13, 1-5 Big West) haven’t won a conference game on the road since Dec. 30, 2004.
Cal Poly plays Saturday against Big West foe Cal State Northridge.