CS Northridge Women Find 1st-Half Groove to Be a Rut : College basketball: Matadors trail at intermission by 30 points and lose to Loyola Marymount in opener, 67-36.

Loyola Marymount was only one point better than Cal State Northridge in the second half of a women’s nonconference college basketball opener at Loyola on Tuesday.

Trouble was, the Lions were 30 points better in the first half and that was more than enough to produce a 67-36 victory.

“The first half was just a complete struggle,” CSUN Coach Kim Chandler said. “We had a lot of nerves offensively. We came in here having no idea what we were going to face.”

What the Matadors faced was the short end of a 27-3 score with five minutes remaining in the half. They cut the lead to 29-10, but Loyola closed with a 13-2 run to lead at the half, 42-12.

The closest the Matadors got in the second half was 53-24.

The first half was a flurry of turnovers, missed shots and weak defense inside for CSUN. The Matadors committed 15 turnovers, made only five of 24 shots and were outrebounded, 29-11. For the game, they were outrebounded, 56-29.

“We’ve said right from the start that we’re going to be up and down this year,” Chandler said.

They were mostly down Tuesday. But then, most of CSUN’s players were playing together for the first time. Northridge has nine new players--including eight freshmen--on its roster and at one point four of the newcomers were on the floor together.

“It was the first eye-opener to Division I basketball for many of the players,” Chandler said.

Alana Collins, a freshman forward who scored four points and pulled down four rebounds, was among those whose eyes were opened.

“I came out really nervous,” Collins said. “In the second half, we wanted our pride back.”

The Matadors might have recouped a small measure of it, succeeding mostly when their defense forced the issue, then taking advantage of the ensuing chaos.

Janel Vega led Northridge with nine points, all in the second half. Forward Jody Bittner had six points and six rebounds and junior guard Mary Jean Espino, a transfer from San Jose City College, had five points and five steals.

Loyola, which had lost 14 games in a row dating to last January’s win over Northridge, was paced by forward Sheri Brown with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Although the loss was one-sided, Chandler found consolation. “I thought the second half was encouraging,” she said.

For now, that will have to do.