UCSB was dominated on the glass and dropped a 62-55 decision to Cal State Northridge in a Big West women’s basketball game on Thursday at the Thundedome.
Northridge outebounded the Gauchos 53-36, with Channon Fluker leading the way with 20 boards to go with 17 points for a double-double.
‘We started and finished the game giving up offensive rebounds,” UCSB coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “We gave up offensive rebounds, we weren’t great defensively, we turned the ball over. The discipline and the fight just isn’t there for us right now.”
UCSB fell to 11-12 and 6-4 in the Big West; Northridge is 12-11, 5-4.
Santa Barbara struggled with its shooting, making 30 percent as a team for the second straight game. The home side did get another solid performance from point guard Drea Toler, who had team-highs of 12 points, six assists and two steals.
“If we can’t knock down a three, which we haven’t for three games, somebody’s got to be able to put it on the floor, get fouled and make a layup,” Henrickson said. “Drive it downhill, put your shoulder in somebody’s chest and make a play. We can’t be standing around like we did tonight.”
CSUN junior guard Serafina Maulupe scored 17 of her game-high 22 points in the first half, leading the Matadors to a 33-25 lead at halftime.
The Gauchos found themselves facing their largest deficit of the game, down 11 near the end of the third. Their defense helped keep them alive heading into the final stretch, as they held Northridge to just one field goal over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.
Back-to-back triples from guards Coco Miller and Sarah Porter with less than six minutes cut the lead to 49-47, the closest they had been since the opening moments of the second period. Porter and Miller would finish with 10 and seven points, respectively.
From there, it was all Fluker, as she scored 11 of the Matadors’ last 13 points over the final 4:50. Northridge outscored the Gauchos 13-8 over that same stretch, with UCSB making just two of its last nine field goal attempts.
UCSB will now head onto the road for four straight games, beginning with Hawai’i on Saturday.