Senior guard Jonae Ervin poured in eight points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds in a 82-57 rout of Nevada on Thursday night.
Jacob Lauing
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With an 82-57 triumph over Nevada on Thursday night, the Cal Poly women’s basketball team extended its win streak to two games for the first time this season.
The Mustangs, who captured their first win against New Mexico State on Monday, recorded their highest point total of the year and shot 48.4 percentage from the field.
“From an offensive perspective, we looked like we were flowing better,” head coach Faith Mimnaugh said. “We had better chemistry today.”
Cal Poly climbed out of a 8-0 deficit to start the game with six points from sophomore Maddison Allen and the first of several 3-pointers from Ariana Elegado.
The junior guard entered Thursday seven for 31 from downtown.
“I’ve been pretty frustrated with myself the whole week,” Elegado said. “I kept telling myself, ‘I’m a good shooter.’ This whole week I’ve been in the gym after class just by myself, listening to music. I’m pretty sure that paid off. I finally have my shot back.”
Elegado sunk five of seven 3-pointers in the first frame alone as she headed into halftime with 17 points. The junior led Cal Poly with 24 points on the night.
“Ariana was amazing as always,” Mimnaugh said. “She’s just a baller. Really excited about her producing like we know she’s capable of producing.”
Cal Poly had its hands full with the Wolf Pack’s center, 6-foot-7 junior Mimi Mungedi, who entered the contest leading Nevada with an average 14.7 points per game and a 77 field-goal percentage.
Senior Molly Schlemer, Cal Poly’s tallest player at 6-foot-5, had the task of blocking Mungedi.
“Defensively, I thought we did a good job on their big girl,” Mimnaugh said. “She easily could probably go for 20. Surprisingly, Molly looks small for a change. Molly did a great job and kind of took her out of her rhythm.”
Mungedi finished the night with 11 points, shooting 29 percent from the floor.
Meanwhile, Schlemer, who only put up four points in the first half, came alive in the second, finishing the night one rebound shy of her fourth consecutive double-double.
Jonae Ervin was also resurgent in second frame, after going blank in the first. The senior guard recorded eight points and a career high eight rebounds.
Freshman Hannah Gilbert also had a career night, notching her first double-digit point tally at Cal Poly.
The Mustangs can’t celebrate for too long, as it hits the road for a 1 p.m. matchup with St. Mary’s on Saturday. The Gaels received votes in the latest USA Today Coaches poll, and are undefeated on the year.
St. Mary’s also ranks 12th in the country with 42.7 rebounds per game.
“Our rebounding was not so good today,” Mimnaugh said. “And it will have to be a lot better. We’re going against a team in St. Mary’s that really excels in rebounding.”
The following weekend, Cal Poly will return home to host the Cal Poly Holiday Beach Classic, facing Akron, San Francisco and CSU Bakersfield.