Northridge Women Leave Them Standing After Narrow Loss

The Cal State Northridge women’s basketball team still has only one victory, but the Matadors took a big step toward respectability with a three-point loss Dec. 19 to visiting Long Beach State.

Northridge shot a season-high 44% from the field, and an open three-point shot at the buzzer bounced off the rim.

“If we couldn’t win, that was as good as we could do,” Coach Michael Abraham said. “The crowd gave us a standing ovation as we left the court.”

Come back soon: Those in the front office of the Lancaster JetHawks already seem to have a pretty good idea about how to get the most out of the media.

At a press conference last week to introduce Dave Brundage as the minor league baseball team’s manager, a reporter asked general manager Matt Ellis about the progress of designing the club’s new mascot.

“That’s a whole other press conference,” Ellis said with a smile.

Wild thing: With an unkempt beard and shaved upper lip that makes him look like a cross between Grizzly Adams and Abraham Lincoln, Burroughs High soccer forward Travis Burns is nicknamed “Wildebeest” by his teammates.

“I didn’t even think they knew what a wildebeest was,” Indians Coach Mike Kodama said. “I’ve gotta start giving them more credit.”

Stats

When Cal Lutheran’s Dave Ulloa scored a career-high 36 points in a 92-79 loss at Azusa Pacific on Monday, it was the highest single-game total by a Kingsmen player since Damon Ridley scored 42 points in a 96-77 victory over Pomona-Pitzer on Jan. 22, 1994.

James Mosley, senior forward at The Master’s College, is seven points away from moving into 10th on the school’s career scoring list. Mosley currently ranks 12th with 1,405 points. Paul Gillies (1981-85) and Eric Olsson (1977-81) are 10th and 11th with 1,411 and 1,407 points.

Master’s junior center Leo Gorauskas, who is shooting 60.7% from the field, has shot 66.7% or better in five of his last seven games.

Things to Do

The Pepperdine women’s basketball team, riding a four-game winning streak, will play Kansas at 7 p.m. Thursday at Firestone Fieldhouse. The Waves (5-3) have outscored their last four opponents by an average of 22.8 points. Guard Sara Pierce leads Pepperdine with a 12.5 scoring average.

Contributing: Rob Fernas, Jeff Fletcher, John Ortega, Tris Wykes.