Cal Poly Opens Season Friday, at No. 24 Oklahoma State
11/7/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
This Week: The Mustangs open the 2012-13 season on Friday against No. 24 Oklahoma State at 3:30 pm (PT). Cal Poly concluded last season 17-15 while the Cowgirls posted a 22-12 record. The Mustangs will remain on the road to face Oregon State on Monday, Nov. 12 at 7 pm. The Beavers were 20-13 last season. Live stats will be available for both games at GoPoly.com.
What's coming up: Following the two-game road trip, Cal Poly will return home to host the University of San Diego in the team's home opener on Saturday, Nov. 17th at 2 pm in Mott Gym. USD posted a 26-9 overall record last season and defeated the Mustangs 69-52 in San Diego on Dec. 17. Following the game with USD, Cal Poly will return to the road to face No. 15 California on Mon. Nov. 19 for a 5 pm game.
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 (2011-12):
CP Okl. St. OSU
Record: 17-15 22-12 20-13
Points PG 71.8 66.2 64.9
Opp. Points PG 66.2 59.2 58.0
Rebounds PG 39.5 41.4 39.5
Shooting % 43.4 40.0 42.1
3-Point % 35.1 30.2 29.2
FT % 72.4 69.4 67.4
Steals PG 7.9 7.7 9.4
Assists PG 15.6 14.5 13.7
Blocks PG 2.3 3.8 5.5
Turnovers PG 14.9 14.0 15.7
Oklahoma State: Oklahoma State's women's basketball team will begin the 2012-13 season with a Top 25 ranking courtesy of both the Associated Press and the USA Today Sports/ESPN preseason polls. The AP Poll has the Cowgirls ranked 23rd. OSU tallied 139 points in the voting, one behind Georgia Tech and 29 points ahead of Miami (Fl.). The coaches' poll checked in at No. 24. The Cowgirls were last ranked heading into the season prior to the 2008-09 campaign when they were ranked 14th by the AP and No. 15 by the coaches. The defending WNIT champions are coming off a 22-12 last season. The Cowgirls return second-team all-league performer Tiffany Bias. The junior point guard ranked among the nation's leaders in assists last season, finishing seventh in the country with her 6.7 assists per game. The Cowgirls also return the league's freshman of the year in Liz Donohoe as well as seniors Lindsey Keller and Toni Young.
History with Oklahoma Sate: This will be the first meeting between the two teams.
Oregon State: Oregon State enters 2012-13 coming off a trip to the Sweet 16 of the WNIT and only the team's third 20-win season in the past 28 years. Oregon State set school records for rebounds (1,302) and blocked shots (183) last season and scored the second-most points (2,141) in program history. Patricia Bright is coming off a season in which she set the school record with 115 blocks to finish sixth in the nation and in the process became the first league player in 22 years to reach triple digits ... Ali Gibson's 56 three-point field goals last year are the eighth most in school history ... Sage Indendi (3rd; 121 3FGM) and Alyssa Martin (7th; 95 3FGM) are already amongst the best career three-point shooters at OSU. The Beavers will host Western Washington on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m before the Mustangs come to visit.
History with Oregon State: Oregon State holds a 3-1 advantage over the Mustangs with the series starting 1994. OSU defeated the Mustangs, 71-61, in 2009, and in 1994, Cal Poly first year of Division I, 89-39. OSU's third win over the Mustangs came in 2007 with a 73-64 win at home. The Mustangs defeated Oregon State at home on Nov. 14, 2006, 68-65.
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 7-11 in season openers since making the move to Division I for the 1994-95 season.
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)....
Off the Bench...: Senior Brittany Woodard made a name for her self coming off the bench... She played in 22 games, 16 off the bench and averaged 5.3 points and 3.5 rebounds... Others to keep an eye on this season will be sophomore Ariana Elegado who played in 30 games and started in 10... She averaged 5.0 points and dished out 81 assists.. Senior Caroline Reeves started in 27 of 32 games last season and averaged 4.8 points and 3.4 rebounds...
Wins and Losses..... last Season...:
Wins Losses
Record: 17 15
Points PG 74.8 68.3
Opp. Points PG 58.4 75.1
Rebounds PG 42.4 36.2
Shooting % 46.0 40.5
3-Point % 34.7 35.4
FT % 73.6 71.0
Steals PG 7.6 8.2
Assists 17.3 13.6
Blocks PG 2.2 2.2
Turnovers 13.9 15.9
Sweeping UCSB....: For the first time since the Mustangs joined the Big West Conference (1996-97) the Mustangs swept the UC Santa Barbara Guachos in the regular season series during the 2011-12...
• 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.
• The first weekend of play will feature all 10 Big West clubs, but only Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State and Pacific will play two contests. The 49ers are the lone club to play in front of their fans all weekend as they take on Sacramento State and Iona. Cal Poly is the only club taking on a squad from a BCS league as the Mustangs travel to Stillwater, Okla., for a tilt against Oklahoma State.....
