Cal Poly to Host USD in Home Opener, Saturday at 2pm
11/14/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
A pre-game social will be held in the Mustang Corral tent one hour prior to Saturday's game. It will open at 1 pm and will be free to the public.
This Week: The Mustangs open the 2012-13 home season when the team will host the University of San Diego Toreros on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 2 pm in Mott Gym. The Mustangs are coming off a gruelling road trip that saw them travel to Oklahoma State on Nov. 9 (L, 59-90) and then to Oregon State on Nov. 12 (W, 72-62). USD has played a single game against Cal State San Marcos on Nov. 11.
What's coming up: Following the game with USD, Cal Poly will return to the road to face No. 14 California on Mon. Nov. 19 for a 5 pm game, then return home to host the Cal Poly Thanksgiving Holiday Tournament. The Mustangs will open the tournament against Stephen S. Austin at 2 pm on Friday followed by a neutral game on Saturday featuring SFA and CSU Bakersfield (2 pm). Cal Poly will conclude the tournament when the team will face CSU Bakersfield on Sunday at 2 pm.
Live Stats/Audio: All Cal Poly home games are streamed at Gopoly.com with Dave Grant calling the play by play. Live stats will also be available through GoPoly.com. Video will be available at BigWest.org.
A Quick Look at the Teams:
CP USD Cal
Record: 1-1 1-0 1-0
Points PG 65.5 69.0 80.0
Opp. Points PG 76.0 44.0 48.0
Rebounds PG 46.5 49.0 53.0
Shooting % 35.5 39.7 42.9
3-Point % 30.8 16.7 30.0
FT % 63.3 64.3 57.1
Steals PG 7.0 17.0 12.0
Assists PG 15.0 19.0 14.0
Blocks PG 3.5 9.0 1.0
Turnovers PG 15.0 15.0 13.0
Univ. of San Diego: The Toreros opened the 2012-13 season on Saturday, Nov. 10 with a 69-44 win over Cal State San Marcos. Junior Amy Kame led the team with a double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Her points came when she hit eight of 19 shots from the floor and made one of two from long range. Of her 11 rebounds, five came at the offensive end. Felicia Wijenberg added 12 points while Maya Hood came off the bench to contribute 10 points. The 2012 WNIT Final Four participant returns nine letter winners and two starters. Overall the Toreros posted a 26-9 record that included a 69-52 win over the Mustangs on Dec. 17
History with San Diego: USD holds a 9-6 advantage in the all-time series with the Mustangs including last season's 69-52 win over the Mustangs on Dec. 17.
California: Cal, ranked 14th this week, opened the season with an 80-48 win over Lehigh on Nov. 9 and will host St. Mary's on Nov. 15th before the Mustangs visit. In the season opening win, Gennifer Brandon scored 17 points with 10 rebounds when she hit six of 11 shots from the floor. Brittany Boyd added 16 points, hitting six of 16 from the floor. Last season the Bears posted a 25-10 overall mark and finished 13-5 in Pac-12 games. Cal returns the top five scorers off of last season's squad.
History with California: The Golden Bears hold a 5-0 advantage over the Mustangs in the all-time series including a 74-60 win in Mott Gym in 2011 in the first round of the WNIT.
A Little About the Mustangs.....:
• The Mustangs are coming off back-to-back Big West Regular Season Championships posting a 12-4 conference record both seasons.
• The Mustangs won 17 games last season, one off pervious year (18) that tied for second-best in school history since making the move to Division I in the 1994-95 season. Cal Poly posted a Division I best 21 wins during the 2008-09 season when the team went 21-11. During the 2009-10 season, head coach Faith Mimnaugh's squad recorded 18 wins... Overall in women's basketball history (since 1974-75), the team posted a 21-12 record in the 1981-82 season and 18-11 in 1979-80 when the team was competing at the Division II level.
• The Mustangs have claimed the last three Big West Conference Player of the year award with Kristina Santiago winning twice (2011-12 and 2009-10) with Rachel Clancy winning in 2010-11.
• The Mustangs have advanced to the post season the last two seasons, both in the WNIT. In 2011 the Mustangs hosted California and lost 74-60 while in the 2012 season Cal Poly traveled to Seattle and lost to Washington, 90-71.
Mustangs in Season Openers: Cal Poly is 10-7 in home openers since making the move to Division I for the 1994-95 season.
The New Guard Steps Up: In the two games this season the team has seen two different players step up to the plate.... In the opener with Oklahoma State junior Molly Schlemer recorded a career-high 21 points while grabbing 12 rebounds.... In the team's win over Oregon State sophomore Ariana Elegado scored a career-high 27 points when she hit 10 of 20 shots from the floor and four of six from long range...
Oregon State Win.... : In the Mustangs win on the road over Oregon State a number of players made major contributions... but the biggest could have been turnovers... In the loss at Oklahoma State, the Mustangs committed 31 turnovers with three players with five or more. In the win at Oregon State Cal Poly committed just nine... a difference of 22....
And Now The Game...: Aside from Ariana Elegado's career scoring night a few others contributed... Senior Kayla Griffin scored 15 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.. She was seven of 15 from the floor with six assists, a block and a steal... Molly Schlemer had a second game in double figures with 10 points with sophomore Kristen Ale coming off the bench to add 10 of her own... Cal Poly as a team had six blocked shots with true freshman Maddison Allen leading the team with three blocks in 15 minutes of play.
Mustang Snapshot: The Mustangs lost three of the team's top five leading scores from last season's squad. The two returning players, senior Kayla Griffin and junior Jonae Ervin, averaged 8.6 and 7.8 respectively. Griffin started and played in 29 games and hit 38 percent from the floor and 35 percent from long range. She also grabbed an averaged of 6.6 rebounds, second on the team. Ervin, a point guard, played in 31 games and started in 22. She shot 41 percent from the floor and 43 percent from long range. She dished out 112 assists while only turning the ball over 42 times.... She lead the NCAA in assist/turnover ratio..... 2.67
What the Team Lost: The Mustangs graduated the schools all-time leading scorer and rebounder, Kristina Santiago.... Last season she averaged 23.4 points and 9.9 rebounds. She hit 56 percent of her shots from the floor and made 72 percent of her free throws.... Also in the mix was the team's No. 2 scorer, Ashlee Burns who averaged 9.2 points while hitting 41 percent of her shots from long range.... The team's fifth leading scorer was Christine Martin who averaged 7.6 points while hitting 42 percent of her shots from the floor.
Points Per Game Kristina Santiago 5 23.4
Rebounds Per Game Kristina Santiago 31 9.9
Field-Goal Percentage Kristina Santiago 6 55.5
Three-Point FG Percentage Ashlee Burns 6 41.3
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game Ashlee Burns 65 2.22
Double Doubles (30 ranked) Kristina Santiago 15
Where Cal Poly Ranked: Last season the team was ranked 26th in scoring (71.8), 24th in field goal percentage (43.4), 22nd in three point percentage (35.1), 44th in turnovers per game (14.9) and 17th in assist/turnover ratio (1.04)....
Wins and Losses.....:
Wins Losses
Record: 1 1
Points PG 72.0 59.0
Opp. Points PG 62.0 90.0
Rebounds PG 47.0 46.0
Shooting % 36.0 34.8
3-Point % 40.0 25.0
FT % 70.6 53.8
Steals PG 6.0 5.0
Assists 15.0 15.0
Blocks PG 6.0 1.0
Turnovers 9.0 31.0
• Cal State Northridge is labeled the preseason favorite to win the Big West title this season, but the voting shows the race will be a tight one. The Matadors garnered six first place votes and 161 points overall, but
Pacific was only two points behind and picked up five first place mentions. Defending Tournament champion UC Santa Barbara picked up 153 points and three first place tallies, while Cal Poly (127 pts.) and Long Beach State (116) each picked up a first place vote and finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Preseason Big West Conference Media Poll
1. Cal State Northridge (6).......................................161
2. Pacific (5).............................................................159
3. UC Santa Barbara (3)..........................................153
4. Cal Poly (1)..........................................................127
5. Long Beach State (1)...........................................116
6. Hawai'i...................................................................81
7. UC Davis...............................................................80
8. UC Riverside.........................................................74
9. UC Irvine................................................................65
10. Cal State Fullerton...............................................29
Preseason Big West All-Conference Team
1. Kayla Griffin, Cal Poly
2. Ashlee Guay, Cal State Northridge
3. Kamilah Martin, Hawai'i
4. Tre'Shonti Nottingham, UC Riverside
5. Kendall Rodrigues, Pacific
6. Janae Sharpe, Cal State Northridge
Big West Notes....
• A $.32 stamp, a future President named Bill Clinton and Jerry Maguire. What do they all have in common? They were all in the news the last time Hawai'i was a Big West member. Well 16 years later the Wahine have returned to the California shores of the league. UH has fond memories of its previous 12 seasons in the league, picking up 230 wins, 128 conference wins, three Big West Tournament Championship game appearances and one Tournament title.
