Northridge Stubbs Its Toe, 77-56

Whatever psychological edge the Cal State Northridge women’s basketball team held over Montana State before Thursday night’s Big Sky Conference game was lost shortly after tipoff.

Despite having defeated Montana State six consecutive times, the Matadors appeared psyched out during a 77-56 loss at the Matadome.

Foremost on their minds was trying to defend sophomore forward Isabel Stubbs, who finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

The Matadors (7-11, 3-4 in conference play) crept to within 10 points twice in the last six minutes, but turnovers proved to be their undoing.

Northridge closed to 64-54 with 5:45 remaining on Myesha Saleem’s rebound and layup but turned the ball over on its next two possessions.

With 3:03 left, the Matadors trailed, 66-56, but ReShawnda Richardson traveled on Northridge’s next trip downcourt.

Northridge turned the ball over 31 times and made only 31.6% of its shots.

Richardson scored 13 points before fouling out with 36 seconds left and Saleem added 13.

Northridge slipped into sixth place in the conference with 10 games remaining before the Big Sky Conference tournament, which takes the top six teams.

Northridge beat Montana State twice last season, including a 68-41 blowout at the Matadome. But this was a different story and none of the Northridge players seemed to have an explanation for their lack of execution.

“Maybe there are issues off the court that we are bringing onto the court,” said 6-4 senior center Kristi Rose. “I honestly don’t know why we can’t pull it together. We’ve done it before, we just weren’t being patient, we weren’t setting screens, we were out of sync on offense.”

The Matadors tried fouling the Bobcats in the final two minutes, but the Bobcats (11-6, 4-2) made 10 of 13 free throws.

In the first 15 minutes, the Matadors had 17 turnovers and 12 points, and four times let the shot clock expire without taking a shot.

Sha’Tasha Allen twice dribbled the ball off her foot and out of bounds, once moments after Northridge Coach Frozena Jerro called a timeout to set up a play.

Northridge trailed, 34-24, at halftime, despite 19 turnovers.

Richardson hit one of two free throws, then made a three-point basket before Saleem made two free throws to pull Northridge to within 32-24 with 40 seconds left.

But Stubbs was unguarded and scored a layup six seconds later.

Rose, who was averaging 13 points, finished with five points and 10 rebounds.