Northridge Goes From Bad to Worst

The Cal State Northridge women’s basketball has seen a lot of lows, but first-year Coach Michael Abraham hadn’t seen anything like what happened Saturday night.

Northridge lost, 75-49, to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in an American West Conference game at Matador Gym.

“I’m humiliated,” Abraham said. “As a coach I’ve never felt more disappointed in a performance than in this game. This team is not 30 points better than us. . . .

“I hope our team feels humiliated. If they are walking out of this gym and not feeling embarrassed, then I’ve got to wonder what kind of players we are developing.”

Abraham was particularly upset because Northridge (5-19, 1-3 in conference play) beat Cal Poly, 63-56, last month.

He guessed that the Matadors might have taken the Mustangs (4-20, 2-3) lightly.

“I don’t understand how a team like ours could overlook anyone,” Abraham said.

Senior Carrie Dormire added: “This wasn’t the same [Northridge] team that was up there. It wasn’t the team that we’ve had in the last few practices.

“Our focus wasn’t there, our intensity wasn’t there, our defense wasn’t there.”

Lisa Vaillancourt scored 13 points for the Matadors. Dormire and Maureen Batiste each added eight for Northridge, which made 35% of its shots.

Kellie Hoffman scored 16 points, Sherron Lee added 14 and Christina Carrillo had 12 for Cal Poly, which made a season-high 63% of its shots.

The Matadors fell behind, 21-5, but made a run and pulled to within 25-17. Cal Poly rebuilt the lead to double digits and kept it there the rest of the game--leading by as many as 33 points late in the game.