The Cal Poly women’s basketball team lost their second straight road game falling to Cal State University Northridge (CSUN) 86-66 at the Matadome Saturday afternoon.
The Mustangs jumped out to a 10-point lead early in the first quarter but CSUN utilized a 15-0 third-quarter run to pull away.
After beginning the fourth quarter down 58-44, the Mustangs narrowed the deficit to 70-62, pulling within eight points on a pair of free throws from senior guard Gabby Grupalo with 4:07 to play. Grupalo finished the game with eight points off the bench.
The Matadors responded with six straight points, however, to push the gap back to 76-62 with 3:07 left, avenging an 84-71 loss to the Mustangs last month. The win snapped CSUN’s six-game losing skid against the Mustangs.
With the win, CSUN (14-13, 7-6) moved to just one game behind Cal Poly (14-11, 8-5) for third place in the Big West Conference standings.
Senior guard Dynn Leaupepe finished with a game-high 29 points, while senior forward Mary Kate Evans scored a career-high 15, making five out of six three-pointer attempts.
For the Matadors, Tessa Boagni scored a team-best 26 points while Channon Fluker recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
The Matadors made 38 out of 49 free throw attempts in the game. This was the third-highest single-game total across NCAA Division I women’s basketball in 2017-18, and six shy of the all-time Big West record (set in 2009). Cal Poly lost despite scoring 23 points off of 19 CSUN turnovers.
Next, Cal Poly returns home to face UC Santa Barbara for the Blue-Green Rivalry Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.