Cal Poly Opens Three-Game Homestand With San Diego State on Sunday
12/12/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
This Week: The Mustangs will open a three-game homestand with San Diego State on Sunday at 2 pm. The 5-3 Aztecs will take on the 5-3 Mustangs who have been off since defeating Nevada (72-63) on Dec. 2. The homestand will continue with Univ. of San Francisco (Dec. 18) and conclude with Loyola Marymount on Dec. 20.
Live Stats/Audio: Live stats will be available for all games with Audio and live steaming available for the Cal Poly home game. 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.
What's coming up: Following the three-game homestand the Mustangs will not return to action until Jan. 3 when Cal Poly opens Big West Conference play when they travel to Long Beach State. Cal Poly will remain on the road and travel to UC Irvine for a game on Jan. 5.
A Quick Look at the Teams:
CP SDSU USF
Record: 5-3 5-3 5-4
Points PG 68.8 63.5 62.4
Opp. Points PG 69.6 54.0 60.1
Rebounds PG 42.2 40.9 43.7
Shooting % 39.2 39.5 39.7
3-Point % 34.4 30.0 28.1
FT % 64.6 68.9 57.8
Steals PG 8.4 7.9 10.7
Assists PG 15.1 11.8 10.3
Blocks PG 4.6 5.1 2.4
Turnovers PG 18.5 15.4 20.1
San Diego State: The Aztecs enter the game 5-3 after defeating the University of San Diego, 58-54, on Dec. 8. Prior to the win over USD the Aztecs lost, 59-58, to Washington, but defeated USC, 80-46. Courtney Clements leads the team with 20.4 points per game with Chelsea Hopkins adding 10.6 points. Hopkins, along with Erimma Amarikwa, lead the team with 6.6 rebounds per game. SDSU leads the Mustangs in the all-time series with a 9-2 advantage, including a 79-78 win last season in San Diego.
History with SDSU: SDSU leads the Mustangs in the all-time series with a 9-2 advantage, including a 79-78 win last season in San Diego.
USF: In the month of December USF defeated UT-San Antonio, 61-60, in overtime, but lost to Cal State Northridge, 77-33. The team defeated Notre Dame De Namur, 93-43 before hosting San Jose State on Dec. 15. Mel Khlok is the lone player on the roster averaging double figures in scoring with 14.4 points per game. Taylor Proctor adds 9.9 points with Alexa Hardick and Zhane Dikes each help out with 9.0 points. Proctor leads the team with 6.7 rebounds per game with Taj Winston adding 6.0 rebounds.
History with the Dons: USF holds a 12-6 advantage over the Mustangs in the all-time series with the Mustangs defeating the Dons, 82-66, last season on the road.
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.
• Cal Poly head coach Faith Mimnaugh picked up her 200 career win at Cal Poly with the team's 72-63 win at Nevada. She is already has the most wins as a coach in program history, amassing 200 wins to this point in 15-plus seasons.
Season Head Coach W -L Pct.
1979-86 Marilyn McNeil 98-103 .488
1997- -- Faith Mimnaugh 200-238 .457
1976-79 Mary Stallard 33-41 .446
1986-96 Jill Orrock 103-132 .438
1974-76 Sharon Chatman 7-28 .200
1995-97 Karen Booker 9-44 .170
Playing the Best... : Cal Poly has opened the 2012-13 season 4-2 playing two teams ranked in the top 25. The Mustangs opened the season with No. 24 Oklahoma State, falling 90-59. Then came back after a pair of wins to play No. 12 California (87-61).
RPI.... : According to RealTimeRPI.com Cal Poly is ranked 44th in the latest pole... The Collegiate Basketball News has the team 41st....The Jeff Sagarin/CBN Women's College Basketball Ratings has the Mustansg at 84.
Who is Stepping Up.... : In six of the team's eight games the Mustangs have had a different leading scorer. In the season-opener against Oklahoma State (90-59), junior Molly Schlemer led the team with 21 points and 12 rebounds. In the win on the road at Oregon State (72-62), sophomore Ariana Elegado scored 27 points with five assists. In the home-opening win over San Diego (69-50), senior Kayla Griffin scored 16 points with seven rebounds and five steals. In the win over Stephen F. Austin, Brittany Woodard led the team with 18 points with six rebounds. She made eight of 10 from the line. In the win over CSUB, Caroline Reeves and Nikol Allison each scored 14 points to lead the team. Allison came off the bench to hit six of seven from floor... Against Saint Mary's Elegado repeated with a career-high 31 points while at Nevada Jonae Ervin led the team in her first start of the season with 15 points.
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.
The New Guard Steps Up: Brittany Woodard leads a trio of players scoring in double figures. Woodard leads the team with 10.8 points followed by Kayla Griffin with 10.7. Ariana Elegado is the third Mustang with 10.4 points. Jonae Ervin and Molly Schlemer add 9.0 points respectively.
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
Wins and Losses.....:
Wins Losses
Record: 5 3
Points PG 72.6 62.3
Opp. Points PG 62.0 82.3
Rebounds PG 45.6 36.7
Shooting % 40.9 36.2
3-Point % 30.0 38.5
FT % 66.9 58.3
Steals PG 10.4 5.0
Assists 16.2 13.3
Blocks PG 5.6 3.0
Turnovers 17.2 20.7
In the 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.
Two Local Women's Basketball Players Among Four to Sign NLI's
A total of four high school players have signed national letters of intent to enroll and continue their women's basketball careers at Cal Poly. The announcement was made Thursday by 16th-year Mustang head coach Faith Mimnaugh. The four players to sign NLI's on Wednesday include Hannah Gilbert (Morro Bay, CA), Mary Kate Evans (Atascadero, CA), Sarah Lipton (Irvine, CA) and Rachel Koehler (Billings, MT).
Hannah Gilbert, 6-3, Center, Morro Bay, CA/ Morro Bay HS
Named MVP of the Los Padres League as a junior when she led the team to a 20-4 overall record and 12-0 in league games… She averaged 14.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game while making 73 percent of her shots from the line. As a sophomore she helped lead the team to a 20-6 overall record and a 10-2 mark in league games when she averaged 11.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game…. As a freshman she posted numbers of 5.9 points and 7.4 rebounds in helping the team to an 18-8 overall record and 10-2 league record…Mary Kate Evans, 6-0, Forward, Atascadero, CA/ Atascadero HS
As a junior she averaged 19.3 points, 13 rebounds, 4.4 blocks and 2.9 steals per game in leading her team to an 18-9 overall record and a 9-3 mark in league games earning All CIF honors…. She was named first-team all-league and all-county first-team and Atascadero High School MVP… As a sophomore averaged 11.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 1.5 blocks per game earning All CIF for the second time… Named all-county… Also earned named team MVP… Intends to major in environmental engineering at Cal Poly….
Sarah Lipton, 6-1, Forward, Irvine, CA/ Woodbridge HS
As a junior she averaged 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.63 blocks per game while shooting 40 percent from the floor and 39 percent from long range… She was MVP and First-Team All-Pacific Coast League … She also honored when she was named All-City MVP and invited to the Nike Skills Academy… As a sophomore she was named All-CIF Southern Section, First-Team All-Pacific Coast League and led Woodbridge HS in scoring… As a freshman she named second-team all-league as the team advanced to the 1A CIF Semifinals and the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA Championships. Played club for Cal Swish Black and head coach Russ Davis…
Rachel Koehler, 5-10, Forward, Billings, MT/Billings Senior HS
Led the team in scoring (10 ppg) and rebounding (8 rpg) while adding 1.4 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 block per game… She was named to the first-team all-league… The all-around athlete was named all-state in soccer three times and one in track and field… Finished second in the state in the triple jump and advanced to the championship in the 4 x 100 relay…
• 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.
