Cal Poly women’s basketball team extended it’s winning streak to five as the rallied behind sophomore guard Kristin Santiago and junior forward Becky Tratter to beat UC Irvine 61-50 Thursday in Mott Gym.
Coming into Thursday’s game, the Anteaters (5-17, 2-7) were having some success of their own, winning two of their last three contests and getting their first two conference wins. They held the Mustangs (14-7, 6-3) to their lowest scoring first half all season, only giving up 20 points to the league’s top-scoring team.
“Ooh, that was gross,” Mustang head coach Faith Mimnaugh said of the first half. “I felt bad for all the people watching.”
Mustangs struggled in the first half offensively, mainly because the team’s two leading scorers were limited due to foul trouble. Senior forward Megan Harrison, who averages 12.2 ppg, had two fouls and Santiago, who lead’s the team with 15 ppg, had three fouls within the first 10 minutes.
“It’s always frustrating when you get fouls, especially fouls like those ones,” Santiago said. “But our team has been doing really good picking it up.”
While the big stars were missing on the court, somebody had to step up. Assuming that role, Tratter scored a season-high 15 points (9 came in the first half). She wasn’t only putting the ball in the hoop, but she was creating opportunities in the paint for key rebounds and playing good defense as well, Mimnaugh said.
“She had a great game. I though that she was really the one positive in our first half, when she was our go-to player,” Mimnaugh said about Tratter’s performance.
In what began as a low-scoring affair between the two teams, the Mustangs exploded in the second half, jumping out on a 14-4 run.
“At halftime we talked about two things: stop fouling them, keep your hands off of them, and keep attacking the basket,” Mimnaugh said.
And they did.
Harrison and Santiago were able to play for the remainder of the game and Cal Poly scored 41 points in the second half to put them two wins closer to their first winning season in 16 years.
In the second half, Santiago scored 15 points. She finished shooting 7-8 from the field, recording a career-high percentage at .875 and scoring 19 points. She also had a game-high eight rebounds.
Harrison followed Santiago’s lead, scoring 11 points in the second period and finishing with 13.
On the defensive end, senior guard Lisa McBride was solid, swarming the boards and blocking shots. She gathered seven rebounds and had a career-high four blocks.
“I think we got a nice team win,” Mimnaugh said after the game. “I’m pleased that everybody played what we were trying to accomplish, philosophically.”