Mustang Daily Staff Report
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The Cal Poly women’s basketball team (14-9, 8-4 Big West Conference) brought its ‘A’ game to Isla Vista when the team defeated rival UC Santa Barbara 65-56 on Saturday.
The Gauchos (11-13, 7-5 Big West) entered their home matchup with a three-game winning streak, having defeated Cal State Fullerton, Pacific and UC Davis the previous week. But for the first eight minutes of the game, the ball was in the Mustangs’ court.
Cal Poly hit the ground running with 16-0 run in the beginning of the game and held UC Santa Barbara without a field goal for more than eight minutes. Sophomore guard Ariana Elegado and senior Kayla Griffin catalyzed the Mustangs’ run with a pair of 3-pointers.
“We just wanted to come out super aggressive in the very beginning of the game,” Elegado said. “We talked to each other about what Cal Poly basketball does, and that’s play defense and have great energy.”
UC Santa Barbara senior Sweets Underwood (the reigning Big West Player of the Week) sank 15 points in the game to give the Gauchos a chance to best the Mustangs. However, the senior forward’s third consecutive double-double was not enough as Cal Poly junior Molly Schlemer led the Mustangs to victory. Schlemer’s 18 points on the night didn’t top her 22 points in the Mustangs’ previous game against the Gauchos, but the junior center’s double-double was enough to keep UC Santa Barbara at bay.
“That’s one of the best games I’ve ever seen (Molly) play,” head coach Faith Mimnaugh said. “She’s definitely a force to be reckoned with. We’ve been asking her to dominate the boards for us on a defensive end. I think she did that job maybe the best she’s ever done it.”
Elegado’s second 3-pointer of the night came with 9:53 left in the first half, making the score 21-4 and giving Cal Poly its largest lead of the night.
The Gauchos retaliated and cut the 17-point deficit to 10 after an 11-4 run.
In the second half, the Mustangs regained their 17-point lead. But once again, the Gauchos fought back as Underwood hit two free throws to make the score 53-44.
“I think some of us were scared and some of us knew we had it,” Elegado said. “We just came together in a huddle and said ‘Hey, we’ve still got this. We can’t let them catch up.’ We just tried to continue to play our game.”
But another 3-pointer by Elegado with 2:47 on the clock sealed the Gauchos fate as Cal Poly regained a 10-point lead. Griffin recorded 15 points with seven rebounds, and Elegado ended the game having notched 12 points for Cal Poly. Junior Jonae Ervin contributed 11 assists (her second double-digit assist game this season).
As a team, the Mustangs ended the night shooting 45 percent from the floor and made eight of 17 3-pointers while the Gauchos shot only 35 percent from the floor and sunk only one shot from beyond the arc. Cal Poly made nine of its 14 free throws, recorded 17 assists and outrebounded the Gauchos. The win gave the Mustangs sole possession of second place in the Big West. The top two teams at the end of the regular season earn a bye into the semifinals of the Big West Tournament in mid-March.
The Mustangs now look onward to Thursday night’s home matchup against the Cal State Northridge Matadors (13-12, 7-6 Big West).
“Every game is a big game in this conference,” Mimnaugh said. “Northridge is always fired up to play us, and we’re really hungry to move up in the competition ladder. Everyone’s fired up.”
Jefferson P. Nolan contributed to this report.