Matadors Caught Short at Guard, Lose in Long Run

A victory over last place Cal State Sacramento is one thing.

But the Cal State Northridge women’s basketball team might have received a better indication about life without Edniesha Curry on Thursday night against Weber State.

And it wasn’t pretty.

After watching its 18-point lead in the second half disappear, Weber State held on for a 61-59 victory in a Big Sky Conference game at Northridge.

The Matadors (12-6, 6-2 in conference play), who fell into second place behind Montana, didn’t have to ponder about whether Curry would have made the difference.

“She’s just a great emotional leader,” said forward Neda Milic, a Northridge captain. “I’ve been playing with her since I came to Northridge and she means a lot to us.”

Curry, a junior guard who has led the team in scoring for three years, quit earlier in the week for personal reasons.

Without Curry and senior guard Jamilah Jones, who also left the team for personal reasons but is expected to return, the Matadors appeared out of sync in the first half.

The Matadors fell behind, 31-17, at the half and trailed, 45-27, with 14:37 remaining.

However, Northridge went on a 23-2 run to take a 50-47 lead with 4:13 remaining led, 59-54, on a basket by Milic with 2:01 to play.

But that was the last piece of good news for the Matadors, who did not score again.

They had their chances in the waning seconds, but Shakira Bryant and Milic both missed shots in the final 10 seconds.

The Matadors had 23 turnovers and did not have a player with more than four assists, something that Curry’s presence might have rectified.

“It’s tough,” Coach Frozena Jerro said. “You lose two players like that and it’s hard to adjust.”

The problems were particularly noticeable in the first half, when they made 14 turnovers.

“We have to play better than that,” Jerro said. “We weren’t sharp at all in the first half.”

Jerro was impressed with the way her team played in the second half after falling behind by 18 points.

“We played hard the last 16 minutes but it was a case of the little things catching up with us,” she said.

Forward Lynda Amari was the only Northridge player to score in double figures with 14 points. Milic had nine points and seven rebounds.

Weber State (6-11, 4-3) was led by Meghan Geddes with 16 points and six rebounds.