The Cal Poly women’s basketball team now sits in second place in the Big West conference after winning games against Long Beach State Jan. 25 and Cal State Fullerton Jan. 27.
Cal Poly vs. Long Beach State
The 49ers (2-18, 0-6) quickly took the lead, racking up points early in the first quarter, but the Mustangs (11-8, 5-2) rallied back to end the quarter 17-14.
Long Beach State took its biggest lead of the game during the second quarter, outscoring the Mustangs 30-17. Cal Poly fought to shorten the deficit by halftime.
The Mustangs eventually overtook the 49ers in the third quarter, but Long Beach once again finished the quarter with the lead.
After trailing for most of the game, a three-pointer from senior forward Mary Kate Evans sparked a 10-0 run for the Mustangs.
Cal Poly outscored the 49ers in the fourth quarter 24-12 and ultimately came back to take the final lead 75-64.
Senior guard Dynn Leaupepe led the Mustangs with 23 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
Cal Poly vs. Cal State Fullerton
Cal Poly took down Cal State Fullerton 72-63 on the road Saturday night with an impressive second-half performance.
Freshman guard Ayzhiana Basallo led the Mustangs in a close first half with 11 points. Basallo played 26 minutes off of the bench, five more than all starters other than junior guard Dye Stahley.
The Mustangs took a one-point lead into the second half, but the Titans opened the third quarter with nine unanswered points to take the lead. However, Cal Poly responded with a 22-7 run to close out the quarter.
Cal State Fullerton closed the margin to four points with six minutes left, but the Mustangs closed out the game with a comfortable lead.
Leaupepe led the team in scoring with 16 points, 14 of which came in the second half.
Cal Poly only made 20 percent (three of 15) of their shots from beyond the arc, significantly worse than their 34.3 percent average coming into the game. The Mustangs made most of their points inside the paint rather than taking mid- to long-range jump shots, ending the game shooting 41.5 percent from the field.
It was the defense that made the difference for the Mustangs in the match. Cal Poly held the Titans to a quiet 33.3 percent shooting from the field. Only two Titans scored double-digits in the game. The Mustangs also scored 22 points off of 22 Titan turnovers.
With the two wins, Cal Poly improves their conference record to 5-2 and is second in the Big West conference standings. The Mustangs return to play Hawaii (8-12, 1-6 Big West) at home Thursday at 7 p.m.