Cal Poly women’s basketball rode record-setting shooting in its lopsided win against Pacific Saturday night.
If there were any questions of the Mustangs (15-7, 8-2 Big West) falling victim to a trap game against the Tigers, they silenced critics with a record-setting 99-66 victory against Pacific (3-18, 1-9).
The Mustangs tied the program record for most home victories in a season. Cal Poly also set a program record for three-point percentage and tied the NCAA record for consecutive three-pointers.
Head coach Faith Mimnaugh was pleased with the way her team performed as the team on top in the conference. The Mustangs took sole possession of the number one spot with a victory over the UC Davis Thursday night.
“We sure did play well this week, I think that we did play championship-level basketball,” she said.
The shooting barrage was led by junior guard Rachel Clancy who went a perfect five for five from long range on her way to a team high 23 points.
“We’re a team of great shooters. I feel like we feel it everyday. Sometimes it drops and sometimes it doesn’t and tonight it just dropped for everybody,” Clancy said.
Four of Clancy’s three pointers came in the first half as the Mustangs came out of the gates hot, including a perfect seven for seven from long range.
“Sometimes when I make a couple early (baskets) I get extra confidence,” Clancy said. “So if I get off to a good start I kind of have more confidence to let it fly. And we were pushing so hard in transition that I felt wide open at times.”
Though the Mustangs were up 31-14 at one point in the first half, Cal Poly went through a bit of a lull as Pacific closed the gap near the end of the half to keep things close.
“Our mentality was definitely just keep attacking and don’t let up at anytime,” junior forward Kristina Santiago said. “We kind of did at the end of the first half. We let up a little bit but we came back out in the second half re-energized and took it at them again.”
In her last game at Pacific, Santiago had 27 points and a then career-high 13 rebounds. Feeling a little under the weather Saturday, she only played 25 minutes and scored 16 points while getting five rebounds and four steals.
“We definitely knew we couldn’t take the teams lightly so we came out really hard, attacking and shot amazingly (well),” Santiago said.
Pacific was quick and aggressive on the defensive end; head coach Lynne Roberts had her team in a full court press for almost the entire game.
Helping out in the second half effort was senior forward Becky Tratter and junior guard Desiray Johnston. Tratter opened the second half with back-to-back rebounds and a bucket to spark an 11-2 run. Then with 15 minutes to go, Johnston almost nailed Pacific’s coffin. She first broke the press and pulled up for three-pointer. On the next possession she took the outlet pass and went coast-to-coast for the lay-in. She then added another three and assisted on a three for Clancy to effectively end the game.
“We did a good job of bunkering down, I think in the second half regaining that lead. Everyone did a good job coming off the bench, all the starters too, so it was a really good team win,” Clancy said.
The team turned from the hunter to the hunted after its victory against former leader of the conference UC Davis on Thursday night.
In a contest featuring the top-two teams in conference, the Mustangs ran away with a 69-48 win against the Aggies.
“We haven’t earned anything yet,” Mimnaugh said at the end of the UC Davis game. “If we have a let-down I will be sorely disappointed.”