Nick CamachoThe Cal Poly women’s basketball team (1-0) trampled the amateur high school elite basketball team Melbourne Roos 90-63 Wednesday in the first exhibition game before the regular season in Mott Gym.
The Mustangs had a lead with more than 10 points for the majority of the game.
“I was very pleased with a lot of the things they did,” said Cal Poly Head Coach Faith Mimnaugh. “We had great contributions from everyone on the team.”
Nine Mustangs scored; five in double digits. Mimnaugh replaced five starters in the beginning of the first half in an attempt to figure out which players worked best with each other.
“I’m still playing with some things to see what the best combinations are, but on our team it doesn’t matter,” she said. “We’re just trying to match the chemistry.”
The Melbourne Roos from the Australian Institute of Sport displayed good ball movement and scored the first points of the night, stealing the ball from the Mustangs right away.
The only player for the Roos to score in double digits was guard Kelly Bowen, who scored a total 16 points with nine turnovers and three steals.
“They’re a really good team,” Bowen said of the Mustangs. “They’re really tough. It’s different. They’re so much stronger and so much faster.”
This was senior guard Sparkle Anderson’s first game back after a knee injury took her off the court last year. She scored 10 points- – her average last season was 8.3.
“I feel blessed to be back,” Anderson said. “We have a lot of point guards on our team, and everyone works really well together.”
Anderson did not start, but was brought in later. Although she first seemed a little rusty, she heated up near the end of the first half, and finished with four rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Freshman forward Nicole Anderson, a big recruit for Poly, had four assists, four steals and four rebounds.
Although the Mustangs defeated the Roos in a game where the scores were never even close and had possession of the ball for the majority of the game, they had trouble capitalizing on open opportunities.
In a beautiful steal with seven minutes left on the clock, Bowen raced down the court, but failed to score for her team.
Senior guard Toni Newman recorded a game-high six steals, while senior guard Shannon Gholar led all scores with 19.
“It feels so good because we just worked hard in the off-season,” Gholar said. “I knew that if I put in the work, it would pay off.”
Overall, the team shot 39.4 from the field and 36.7 from behind the arch.
Forward Megen Harrison led Cal Poly with nine rebounds, while Bowen led all players with 14.
The Mustangs play an exhibition game Saturday at 2 p.m. against CS Monterey Bay at Mott Gym.