CSUN Appears Lost in Defeat

Something was amiss for the Cal State Northridge women’s basketball team Thursday night against Northern Arizona.

Even after it was over, the Matadors were at a loss to explain what had happened.

The only certainty was that they suffered a surprising 55-53 loss to the Lumberjacks in a Big Sky Conference game at The Matadome.

It wasn’t as if the Matadors (6-8, 2-1), who went into the game in a three-way tie for first with Montana and Montana State, didn’t have opportunities against the Lumberjacks (5-11, 2-1).

“I have no idea why we played like we did [Thursday night],” Northridge Coach Frozena Jerro said. “We just weren’t focused. Every time we had an opportunity, we couldn’t take advantage of it.”

The Matadors trailed most of the game and never led in the second half.

But they were rarely far behind and got to within 49-48 on a three-point basket by LaShaunda Fowler with 3:14 remaining.

Unfortunately for the Matadors, that was as close as they could get.

“We just never got it together and I don’t know why,” Fowler said. “We just weren’t patient on offense. For the most part, they had control of the game.”

The Lumberjacks didn’t exactly dominate the game. In fact, they made only 18 of 60 shots (30%) including only one of 10 three-point shots.

The Matadors weren’t much better, making only 20 of 63 shots (31.7%). Kristi Rose finished with 10 rebounds but made only two of 14 shots.

It didn’t help that the Matadors committed 21 turnovers.

“You can’t win when you play like that,” said Myesha Saleem, who finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. “I know we also missed a lot of easy baskets.”

They might have been easy on most nights. But nothing seemed to work against the Lumberjacks.

Fowler scored 11 points, all in the second half, and Jenny Shetters added 10.

“I hope we can learn from this and realize what happens when you’re not ready to play,” Fowler said.

Kara Kleinhenz scored 19 points for Northern Arizona but made only five of 17 shots.