Irvine, Calif. – Cal State Northridge shot 58.6 percent in the second half and went on to an 80-59 victory at the Bren Events Center Saturday.
The Matadors improve to 14-9 overall and remain in first place in the Big West Conference with an 8-2 league record, while UC Irvine goes to 10-13 overall and 6-4 in the Big West.
Cal State Northridge, who shot 58.6 percent (17-29) from the field in the second half and 51.5 percent (34-66) for the game, out-scored UCI 35-20 in the final 20 minutes. The Anteaters' 20 second half points were the fewest scored in the final stanza this season and are the second fewest points scored in a half this year. UCI shot 50 percent (12-24) from the floor in the first half and then just 23.1 percent (6-26) in the final period.
UC Irvine was led by senior guard Kassandra McCalister with 27 points, two shy of her career best. McCalister was 9-16 from the floor and 5-7 from three-point range, a new career-high from long distance. She also shared the team lead with Jacquelyn Marshall in rebounds with seven. Marshall, a sophomore forward, added 12 points to go with her seven boards. Sophomore forward Jasmine Bernard came off the bench to chip in seven points and two steals in 13 minutes of action.
Cal State Northridge's Jasmine Erving led all players with 36 points and 10 rebounds. Camille Mahiknecht recorded 11 points and Janae Sharpe had 10 points and six assists. Ashlee Guay fired a game-high nine assists.
Cal State Northridge jumped out to a fast 9-1 lead and continued to lead 17-4 before Jacquelyn Marshall scored seven straight to narrow the Anteater deficit to 17-11 at 13:42. UCI continued to chip away, out-scoring the Matadors 16-4 with a Kassandra McCalister three-pointer at the top of the arc knotting the game at 29-29 at 6:15. With the teams tied at 36 all at 3:10, Cal State Northridge would close the half on a 9-3 run to go into intermission with the 45-39 lead.
The Matadors continued to lead 49-44, before Jasmine Erving took over the game, scoring CSUN's next 13 points to open a 62-45 advantage with 11:30 remaining. UCI would only get as close as 12 points the rest of the game.
UC Irvine will travel to UC Davis next Thursday (Feb. 9) and Pacific next Saturday (Feb. 11). Both games tip-of at 5:00 p.m.
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