AREA COLLEGE NOTEBOOK

J.T. Stotts hit his team-leading eighth home run Sunday and Northridge (9-5) salvaged a split with Cal State Dominguez Hills with a 6-0 victory at Matador Field.

The homer was the first in five games for Stotts, a senior shortstop who leads the Matadors in batting average (.476), hits (30), runs (18), runs batted in (22), total bases (59), on-base percentage (.522) and slugging percentage (.937).

Northridge plays at home Friday against San Diego in the first of a three-game series. The teams play Saturday at Northridge and Sunday at San Diego.

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The Idaho State women’s basketball team has clinched first place in the Big Sky Conference and will host the conference tournament March 8-10.

The Bengals (19-4, 12-0 in conference play) continued their best season in history by beating Montana and Montana State last week.

Northridge (9-15, 5-7), in sixth place, has lost four in a row for the first time in four years after losing Saturday at Northern Arizona.

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Tickets for the Big Sky Conference men’s basketball tournament go on sale Thursday at 9 a.m. at Northridge, although the Matadors have yet to clinch the right to host the tournament March 8-10.

First-place Northridge (16-9, 9-3) is a game ahead of Eastern Washington with four games to play, including a showdown at Eastern Washington on March 1.

The Matadors play their final two regular season home games Thursday against Montana and Saturday against Montana State.

Tickets are available through the Northridge ticket office: (818) 677-2488. Passes for all five tournament games cost $75, $55 for Northridge students.