For months now, the Cal Poly women’s basketball team has been working for this moment.
For seniors Lisa McBride and Megan Harrison, they have been waiting four years for this.
The Mustangs (19-10) enter Big West Tournament play as the third seed. But more importantly, the team enters with the confidence that it can go all the way.
Cal Poly will take its first step towards a Big West championship at noon today when they face eighth-seeded Cal State Northridge in Anaheim.
“I think that all the success they’ve had this season makes them feel more confident when they go into games,” Cal Poly head coach Faith Mimnaugh said. “The team never feels like they’re not going in at the end of a game to secure a win.”
The Mustangs defeated the Matadors (8-22) twice during the regular season, but the games were closer than one might expect between the teams.
Freshman center Jasmine Erving gave the Mustangs fits in the teams’ earlier encounters. She averaged 12.5 points and 9.5 rebounds against Cal Poly this year.
The team has struggled since securing the third seed in the conference tournament. The Mustangs have lost two of their last three games including their last contest, a 74-61 decision at UC Riverside.
“I felt like since we went to Davis and Pacific that the team hasn’t played to that same ability since then,” Mimnaugh said.
The Mustangs had won nine of 10 before losing to Cal State Bakersfield and UC Riverside.
“I’m not really sure if they slipped on focus,” Mimnaugh said. “But it will be there this week because we really want to win a championship.”
If the Mustangs are to make a push deep into the tournament, they will need to get by UC Riverside and possibly UC Santa Barbara in the final. Cal Poly was 0-4 against the top two seeds during the regular season.
“If we are lucky enough to get to play either of the team’s ahead of us one of the things we need to work on is guarding their stars,” Mimnaugh said.
Conference player of the year Kemie Nkele averaged 15.5 points and 8.5 rebounds a year for the second-seeded Highlanders against Cal Poly. UC Santa Barbara’s Jenna Green averaged 19.5 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Gauchos in their meetings with the Mustangs.
Sophomore forward Kristina Santiago was named to the first-team all-Big West Conference team last week, but Mimnaugh said she expects her senior leaders, McBride and Harrison, to step up for the team.
“They bring a sense of urgency to us,” Mimnaugh said. “You really don’t have any time to feel your way into a game at this point.”
Mimnaugh said she expects to see a lot of zone defense and full court pressure from Cal State Northridge defensively.
In the Mustangs previous game with the Matadors, Harrison was able to exploit that defense to the tune of 21 points and 12 rebounds, one of her best performances of the season.
Still, Mimnaugh worries about Cal State Northridge and the rest of the field. But she is still keeping her eye on the ultimate goal, a berth in the 64-team NCAA tournament.
“I’ve been in the business a long time and the only time I’ve been to the NCAA tournament was through the guiding hands of Kay Yow,” Mimnaugh said. “It’s so special, and only 64 teams get to go so that would be totally awesome for our program.”