Northridge Advances to Regional Final, 68-54

It was not pretty. And that is a charitable assessment.

Cal State Northridge committed 34 turnovers Friday night against Florida Atlantic in the opening round of the NCAA Division II West regional women’s basketball tournament at Cal Poly Pomona.

It got so bad, the official statistician mistakenly credited the Lady Matadors with 44 turnovers.

But with Florida Atlantic contributing 31 turnovers of its own, keeping track was no routine matter.

Fortunately for Northridge, style is not a prerequisite for victory.

If nothing else, the 14th-ranked Lady Matadors showed a flair for regaining their composure amid trying times and came away with a 68-54 win in Kellogg Gym.

The victory advances Northridge (22-8) to the regional final at 7:30 tonight against third-ranked Pomona (25-5), which defeated Cal State Hayward, 82-69, Friday.

“It wasn’t pretty but we came out and did what we needed to when we had to. So I’m happy with that,” Northridge Coach Leslie Milke said. “For the last six minutes we did a pretty good job, but for the first 34 . . . “

Florida Atlantic (21-8), an independent school from Boca Raton, made it this far using a platoon substitution system. Five of the Owls’ seven losses had come against Division I opponents.

Maybe it was the pressure of being in the playoffs for the first time. Maybe it was the long trip from Florida and a three-week break since its last game. Whatever the reason, Florida Atlantic shot just 28% (22 for 76) from the field.

“They threw us off stride defensively,” Owl Coach Wayne Allen said. “We could never get in our pattern.

“We thought our two-platoon system would wear them down, but they were in real good shape.”

Northridge led, 28-27, at halftime, but the Owls, behind the play of forward Yvette Clark--who scored 13 of her 18 points in the second half--took a 43-42 lead with 10:21 left.

Julie Arlotto, who scored a team-high 18 points, Paula Lucas (17) and Bridgette Ealy (nine) keyed a methodical seven-minute run that put Northridge ahead, 56-49, and secured the victory.

“We wanted this game so bad because we wanted to play Pomona again,” said Northridge center Chris Cavalin, who had 12 points and a game-high 18 rebounds. “Even though we didn’t play well tonight, I think we’re going to have a good game tomorrow.”

The Lady Matadors, who shot 47%, will have to play more than a good game if they hope to beat Pomona and reverse the outcome of the 1986 West regional final when Pomona defeated CSUN en route to winning its third national championship.

Tonight’s game will be the fourth meeting of the season between the teams.

After losing the first match-up during California Collegiate Athletic Assn. regular-season play, Northridge beat Pomona in Kellogg Gym on Feb. 23, snapping the Lady Matadors’ 29-game losing streak to the Lady Broncos.

But last weekend, Pomona beat Northridge, 75-62, to win the CCAA tournament, which earned the Lady Broncos their eighth consecutive CCAA title and an automatic berth in the regional.

For Northridge to be successful, the Lady Matadors are going to have to find a way to control Pomona center Niki Bracken, who scored 30 points and had 11 rebounds against Northridge in the CCAA tournament final and was named tournament MVP for the second year in a row. Bracken scored 32 points against Hayward on Friday.

“We know what to expect,” Milke said. “I don’t think we’re going to do anything really different than what we tried to do last week. I’m just hoping we execute better than we did last time.”