No. 14 Cal Poly to Play No. 3 Penn State in First Round of NCAA Tourney
3/20/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- On Monday afternoon, the Big West Conference Champions were officially announced as one of the 64 teams that will play in the NCAA Tournament, which begins Saturday at sites around the country.
Making its first NCAA appearance in school history, Cal Poly (21-10) will be the No. 14 seed in the Spokane Region and will face 3rd-seeded Penn State (25-5), on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Maravich Center in Baton Rouge. Host and No. 6 seed LSU (20-11) will square off against 11th-seeded Green Bay in the second game at 4:30 pm. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and ESPN3.
The winners of Sunday's games will play Tuesday evening at 5:30 p.m.
NCAA First-Round game tickets will be available beginning Tuesday, March 19 by visiting the Mustang Ticket Office, Tuesday through, Friday this week between the hours of 10 and 4 or by calling (805) 756-4TIX. Single session tickets for the Baton Rouge site are $15 for adults and $10 for youth, while All-Session tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for youth.
NCAA Tournament: Making its first NCAA appearance in school history, Cal Poly (21-10) will be the No. 14 seed in the Spokane Region and will face 3rd-seeded Penn State (25-5), on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Maravich Center in Baton Rouge. Host and No. 6 seed LSU (20-11) will square off against 11th-seeded Green Bay in the second game at 4:30 pm. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and ESPN3. The Mustangs advanced to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big West Conference Tournament this past Saturday with a 63-49 win over the No. 1 seed Pacific.
Live Stats/Audio: Live stats, video and audio will be available for all games at GoPoly.com. Dave Grant will call the play by play for the Mustangs with all postseason games carried on ESPN1280.
TV: Tom Hart and Krista Blunk will call the plays on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3 on Sunday. The Cal Poly women's basketball team is 2-2 all-time in televised games. Three of the games have come at the Big West Conference finals while the Mustangs played a televised game against UC Santa Barbara last season.
A Little About the Mustangs.....:
• The Mustangs earned their first trip to the NCAA Tournament this season after winning the Big West Conference Tournament. Cal Poly is 21-10 overall after posting a 13-5 mark in conference games. The Mustangs are coming off back-to-back Big West Regular Season Championships (2010-11 and 2011-12) posting a 12-4 conference record both seasons.
• The Mustangs have won 21 games this season, tying the school record for most wins in a season. Cal Poly posted a Division I best 21 wins during the 2008-09 season when the team went 21-11 while 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. Last year (2011-12) the team won 17 games, one off pervious year (18) that was tied for second-best in school history since making the move to Division I in the 1994-95 season. . During the 2009-10 season, head coach Faith Mimnaugh's squad recorded 18 wins...
• The Mustangs have claimed the last four Big West Conference Player of the year awards with Molly Schlemer winning this season, Kristina Santiago won the award twice (2011-12 and 2009-10) and 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 2012 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 on Dec. 2. She is already has the most wins as a coach in program history, amassing 216 wins to this point in 15-plus seasons.
Season Head Coach
W -L Pct.
1979-86 Marilyn McNeil 98-103 .488
1997- -- Faith Mimnaugh 216-245 .469
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
Quick Look at the Teams....:
CP PSU LSU GB
Record: 21-10 25-5 20-11 29-2
Points PG 68.1 73.5 68.9 67.8
Opp. Points PG 62.0 58.8 63.2 48.1
Rebounds PG 41.1 41.3 39.2 34.8
Shooting % 42.1 42.4 42.8 45.0
3-Point % 34.7 39.5 27.8 35.1
FT % 66.8 73.6 70.8 70.5
Steals PG 8.0 11.4 9.2 9.1
Assists 16.1 12.0 13.7 17.9
Blocks PG 3.1 4.8 5.1 2.3
Turnovers 16.4 15.3 17.1 13.2
Common Opponents: Looking for common opponents between Cal Poly, Penn State, LSU and Green Bay, you don't have to look very hard... There is only one... Cal State Northridge and they played Penn State.. PSU defeated the Matadors, 85-73, in Northridge on Nov. 24... Penn State shot 4.6 percent from the floor and made five of eight from long range... Cal Poly played CSUB twice during the season and split games, falling 80-70 in double overtime on Jan. 26 and defeating the Matadors, 66-49, at home on Feb. 21... In the two games Cal Poly shot 46.3 from the floor, but made only 20 percent from long range...
Schlemer by the Numbers... : Leads the team in both points (13.0) and rebounds (7.2)...Led Cal Poly in scoring 12 times this season...Led the team in rebounding 12 times... Scored in double figures 21 times... Has recorded six double-doubles... Scored 20 or more points seven times this season...
Schlemer Named BWC Tournament MVP: Junior Molly Schlemer added to her accolades when she was named the Big West Conference Tournament MVP when she scored 26 points in the semifinal game against UC Santa Barbara and corralled 16 rebounds in the championship game against Pacific.
Big West Tournament Side Note: Cal Poly entered the BWC tournament as the No. 2 seed and won the championship, becoming the first No. 2 seed to do so since 1996 when Hawai'i defeated Pacific...
Who is Missing: The Mustangs suffered a major set back in the championship game when senior Kayla Griffin went down with a season-ending knee injury. The native of Fremont, Calif. had played and started in all 31 games this season, averaging 7.7 points, 7.0 rebounds with 110 assets.. She was second on the team in three-pointers (28) and converted 33 percent of her shots from the floor... She also had a team-high 49 steals..
Missing II: Cal Poly lost senior forward Brittany Woodard in the team's triple overtime win against Pacific.. What the Mustangs lost... 10.6 points per game and 5.6 rebounds... Before going down to injury against Pacific she had scored in double figures in four of the last five games including a career-high of 21 points against UC Davis...
Molly Schlemer Named Conference Player of the Year: Cal Poly junior Molly Schlemer was named the Big West Conference 2012-13 Player of the Year and All Big West Conference First Team on Monday, the fourth straight for the Cal Poly women's basketball program. The native of Santa Maria, averaged 12.7 points and 6.8 rebounds while recording 20 blocked shots in 29 games. Entering this week she is ranked 12th in the nation, shooting 54.0 percent from the floor. She scored in double figures in 21 games this season, including a career-high 28 points in the team's triple overtime win over Pacific. In the game she made 13 of 17 shots from the floor. She also tallied two games of 22 points (UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge), two games of 21 (Oklahoma State, Cal State Northridge) and a game of 20 points (Hawai'i). Schlemer recorded six double-doubles where she had a season-high 13 rebounds twice (UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge). But it was in Big West play where the junior upped her game. In the 18 conference games, the junior averaged 15.2 points and 7.7 rebounds while shooting 59 percent from the floor. She scored in double figures in 15 games with four of her double-doubles coming in Big West play. Schlemer led Cal Poly in scoring 11 times, 10 of which came against Big West foes, and won the league's player of the week award on two occasions. She joins former teammates, Kristina Santiago (2009-10 and 2011-12) and Rachel Clancy (2010-11), earning player of the year.
Griffin Wins Hustle Player: Senior Kayla Griffin becomes Cal Poly's fifth player to earn the Big West Hustle Player joining Odessa Jenkins (2000-01 and 2001-02), Kari Duperron (2002-03) and Jonae Ervin (2011-12). She was also selected honorable mention it was announced by the conference office on Monday. Griffin was all over the Big West statistics in multiple categories. The senior from Fremont, Calif., averaged 8.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, collected 107 assists and 48 steals. Griffin ranks seventh in the Big West in rebounding (7.1), fourth in assists (3.7), second in assist/turnover ratio (1.6), tied for fifth in defensive rebounds per game (5.0) and seventh in minutes played per game (32.2). Griffin scored in double figures 11 times this season, including a career-high 21 points against UC Santa Barbara. In the team's triple overtime win against Pacific, Griffin scored eight points with 13 rebounds and 11 assists. Against Stephen F Austin she grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds and tallied five steals against San Diego.
Ervin and Elegado Selected Honorable Mention: Jonae Ervin and Ariana Elegado join Griffin being named honorable mention. Ervin averaged 8.1 points and 3.9 rebounds while dishing out a conference high 4.5 assists per game. She scored in double figures in eight contests, including a season-high 15 points, three times. She had 10 games with five or more assists and three games with 11; Loyola Marymount, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge. Entering the week she is ranked No. 1 in the nation in assist/turnover ratio at 2.97. She won the award last season with a 2.67 ratio. This is her second time earning honorable mention. Elegado averaged 12.1 points and 3.5 assists while shooting 38.7 percent from long range. The sophomore scored in double figures in 15 games including a career-high 31 points against Saint Mary's when she made 11 of 19 shots from the floor and seven of 14 from long range. She added four games of 20 or more points; Oregon State (27), Loyola Marymount (23) and UC Irvine with 20 points twice. This is Elegado's first conference honor while Griffin was named second team last year.
Ervin No. 3 in Assist/Turnover Ratio: Junior Jonae Ervin is currently ranked third in nation in assist/turnover ratio at 2.64... She spent much of the season on top of the nation, ranked with a ratio over 3.0... For the season she has dished out 119 assists while committing only 45 turnovers.... She was the nation's leader last season with 2.67 assist/turnover ratio...
An Assists or Two...: The Mustangs are ranked 16th in the nation and lead the Big West Conference with 16.6 assists per game. Four players have dished out more then 50 assists this season, led by Jonae Ervin with 113 assists while Kayla Griffin is second on the team with 107, followed by Ariana Elegado with 98. Caroline Reeves has dished out 61.
Playing the Best... : Cal Poly opened the 2012-13 season 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 (L, 87-61)... California is currently ranked 6th in the nation while Oklahoma State is receiving votes as is Mountain West opponent, San Diego State...
Stepping in... : Senior Nikol Allison has finally got her chance to play this year after three years of back injuries. The academic senior has played in 31 games and earned starts in two games... She averages 6.5 points and 4.9 rebounds in 17.2 minutes a game... She has scored in double figures in nine games, including a career-high 22 points against UC Davis when she hit nine of 15 shots from the floor... Not bad for a player who did not take the court in a game until this season... While she is listed as a senior.. it is on the academic side.. She could return for another year...
Stepping in II...: Junior Amaka Ofodu plays a quiet roll on the team... but she has played in 27 games and started in two this season.... She scored a season-high eight points at Cal State Fullerton when she made four of five shots from the floor... She shoots 61 percent from the floor... But its not that... It's her defensive play that keeps her on the court... Nominated by coach Mimnaugh as the conference defensive player of the year... She is the stopper...
Mustangs By the Half... :
1st Half 2nd Half Last 5 min.
Points 33.7 33.3 10.5
Opp. Points 27.6 33.0 10.7
Rebounds 19.8 20.5 6.3
Shooting % 43.2 41.2 38.8
3-Point % 41.1 27.8 25.0
FT % 71.4 64.4 68.4
Steals 4.3 3.6 1.2
Assists 8.5 7.4 1.5
Blocks 1.5 1.6 0.5
Turnovers 8.4 7.7 2.2
Cal Poly Post Season History:
Women's National Invitation Tournament
2011 (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)
3/17 CALIFORNIA L 60-74
2012 (Seattle,WA)
3/14 at Washington L 71-90
Totals 0-2
Around the NCAA....
Assists Per Game (250 ranked)
Jonae Ervin 80th 4.4
Field goal percentage
Molly Schlemer 12th 54.0
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage (250 ranked)
Ariana Elegado 27th 38.9
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game (250 ranked)
Ariana Elegado 49th 2.4
Assist Turnover Ratio (250 ranked)
Jonae Ervin 3rd 2.64
Kayla Griffin 99th 1.49
Ariana Elegado 142nd 1.29
NCAA Team:
Assists Per Game (343 ranked) 21st 16.1
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage (247 ranked) 29th 34.7
Assist Turnover Ratio (343 ranked) 45th .98
Scoring Offense (343 ranked) 55th 68.1
Field Goal Percentage 57th 42.1
Mustangs on the Move...: The Mustangs won eight of the last nine games and are 21-10 overall.. Taking a look at the team over the stretch... The Mustangs have outscored opponents 67.0 to 50.3... Grabbed 354 rebounds to 175... Shot 45.5 percent from the floor to 34.5... Made 39.8 percent from long range compared to 22.2 percent... and have dished out 134 assists to 128...
Home Sweet Home... : The Mustangs posted a 12-4 home record this season and won nine straight, before falling to Long Beach State in the regular season finale. The Mustangs were 8-1 at home in conference games.
21 Wins...: With the win over Pacific the Mustangs picked up the their 21st win of the season, tying the school record for most wins.
Last Five Seasons:
2012-13 21-10
2011-12 17-15
2010-11 18-13
2009-10 18-11
2008-09 21-11
The 2008-09 season marked the first time the program posted a record better than .500...
Back to Back..: In back to back games, Jonae Ervin dished out 11 assists (UC Santa Barbara and CS Northridge) and the third time this season... Against CS Northridge, Ervin was credited with 11 assists and three turnovers. In the win over UC Santa Barbara one week later, Ervin dished out 11 assists, but this time without a turnover. She was the NCAA leader last season with a ratio of 2.67. The UCSB game was the fourth in her career with 10 or more assists in a game.
50 Percent: For the third time this season the Mustangs shot better then 50 percent from the floor in the win over UC Riverside (54 percent) ... In the game with Cal State Fullerton (Jan. 26), Cal Poly shot 48 percent in the first half and led Cal Sate Fullerton, 33-24 at the break... In the second half the Mustangs put up 45 points and shot 66 percent from the floor ... The team shot 57 percent overall for the game.... The third game came against Cal State Northridge when the team made 30 of 60 shots from the floor...
Schlemer Wins Second BWC POW: Cal Poly junior Molly Schlemer (Santa Maria, Calif./Righetti HS) secured Big West Women's Basketball Player of the Week honors with dominant all-around performances in conference victories over Cal State Northridge and Hawai'i. The 6-5 center averaged 21.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks for the week as the two wins propelled the Mustangs into second place in a tight Big West race. She also shot 70.4 (19 of 27) percent from the field. The Mustangs trail league leader Pacific by just one-half game. In a 66-49 rout of Cal State Northridge, Schlemer canned 10 of 14 floor shots en route to 22 points. She added eight rebounds and a career-high four blocked shots in 31 minutes of play. Schlemer poured in her fifth double-double of the season with 20 points on 9 of 13 shooting, and had 12 rebounds in a 47-43 triumph over the Rainbow Wahine. The effort marked her 12th double-digit scoring performance in the last 13 games.
RPI.... : . The Mustangs are currently ranked 75th this week in the latest RealTime RPI.... and have been up down all season.. Prior to the BWC tournament, the Mustangs were ranked 89th ... The weeks leading into the conference tournament Cal Poly was ranked: 81, 91, 94, 109 and 105 ...
Schlemer's Career Night: Junior Molly Schlemer, who established a career high in scoring in Cal Poly's historic triple-overtime win over Pacific, was named the Big West Player of the Week. Schlemer averaged 20 points and 7.5 rebounds in two Big West Conference games. In the 73-71 win over UC Davis, Schlemer came off the bench to spark Cal Poly with 12 points and six rebounds in just 15 minutes of play when she hit five of seven shots from the floor. Two days later, Schlemer scored a career-high 28 points when she converted 13 of 17 shots from the floor as Cal Poly beat Pacific 96-95 in the Mustangs' first-ever triple-overtime game.
Wins and Losses.....:
Wins Losses
Record: 21 10
Points PG 71.9 60.2
Opp. Points PG 56.0 74.4
Rebounds PG 42.1 39.0
Shooting % 45.3 35.8
3-Point % 39.3 27.2
FT % 70.9 58.0
Steals PG 7.4 9.2
Assists 17.2 13.8
Blocks PG 3.1 3.1
Turnovers 15.5 18.3
Cal Poly 63, Pacific 49:
The Cal Poly women's basketball team defeated Pacific, 63-49, to earn the programs first ever trip to the NCAA tournament on Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Junior Molly Schlemer garnered tournament MVP honors with sophomore Ariana Elegado earning all-tournament. Cal Poly becomes the first Big West Conference No. 2 seed to win the conference tournament since 1996 when Hawai'i defeated Pacific. With the win the Mustangs improve to 21-10, tying a Divison I school record, while Pacific falls to 25-7. It was the Mustangs third win of the season over the Tigers without a defeat. The native of Santa Maria earned her MVP honors when she corralled a season-high 16 rebounds and added seven points. Elegado led all-scorers with 22 points when she connected on five of 11 shots from the floor and three of seven from beyond the arc. She was near perfect at the line, making nine of 10 attempts. Senior Nikol Allison came off the bench and sparked the team for the second-straight game when she scored 10 points. Fellow senior Caroline Reeves also added 10 points, making four of seven shots from the floor. The Mustangs were a dominate force on the boards with a 46-28 advantage while making 41 percent of their field goals. Cal Poly held Pacific to 33 percent from the floor for the game and 27 percent in the first half. The Pacific defense did force 19 Mustang turnovers while committing 13 of their own. Cal Poly made three of 10 from long range with Pacific struggling, making four of 17 attempts. The Mustangs went to the line 30 times, making 24 while Pacific attempted 11 free throws, making five. The game opened with Schlemer making a pair of free throws and a layup before Pacific made its first basket, a three pointer by Kendall Rodriguez, at 15:27. On Pacific's next possession, Erica McKenzie hit another three for a 6-4 lead at 15:02. That would be the only lead of the game for the Tigers as the Mustangs, after three ties, took the lead for good on a jumper by Reeves at 10:59. Cal Poly took its first double figure lead, 27-17, on a three by Elegado at 4:18 and expanded the lead to 15 points (18-33) on a pair of free throws by junior Jonae Ervin. The Mustangs held a 33-21 lead at the break. Pacific opened the second half on a 8-0 run that cut the Cal Poly lead to four (29-33) in the first four minutes of play when senior Kayla Griffin went down with a knee injury and would not return to the court. Cal Poly finally got on the board in the second half when Reeves made a pair of free throws at 15:42. Allison, subbing for Griffin, responded with pair of buckets to spark the team and gain an eight point advantage (39-31) with 13:24 on the clock. Sophomore Taryn Garza entered the game when Schlemer picked up her third foul of the game (12:08) and responded by shutting down the Pacific inside game. The Mustangs built the lead to nine on a Reeves jumper with 6:26 left in the game and in the closing two minutes of play, Schlemer gave the Mustangs a 10 point lead on a jumper with 1:46 on the clock. Elegado and Kristen Ale made their free throws down the stretch to seal the win and the 14 point victory.
Cal Poly 62, UC Santa Barbara 43:
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Junior Molly Schlemer lived up to her Big West Conference Player of the Year when she scored 20 second half points to lead the Cal Poly women's basketball team to a 62-43 win over UC Santa Barbara, Friday afternoon at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
Cal Poly improves to 20-10 overall, the team's second most wins at the Division I level, while UCSB concludes the season, 16-16. For the Mustangs it was the team's fifth-straight win over Gauchos. Schlemer scored a game-high 26 points when she made 10 of 23 shots from the floor and corralled nine rebounds while sinking six of seven from the line. Junior Jonae Ervin and sophomore Ariana Elegado, each scored eight points with senior Caroline Reeves adding six points. Senior Kayla Griffin tied Schlemer with a team-high nine rebounds. Nicole Nesbit and Angelei Aguirre led UCSB with 11 and 10 points respectively. Kristen Tilleman had 10 rebounds to lead all players. Cal Poly shot 43.8 percent from the field and made four of 12 shots from long range while UCSB shot 34.7 percent from the floor and made two of four from beyond the arc. The Mustangs went to the line 19 times and made 16 while UCSB made seven of eight. The Gauchos held a two rebound advantage, 32-30, but the Mustangs turned the ball over six fewer times (17-11). Cal Poly has played in two championship games while Pacific has played in four with neither team winning. Cal Poly advanced to the championship game in 2010-11 when the team fell to UC Davis and 2008-09 when the lost to UCSB. The Mustangs opened the game missing their first eight shots from the floor, but rebounded to make nine of the next 16 shots, good for 38 percent from the floor in the first half. Cal Poly trailed by as many as six, 8-2, with 12:16 on the clock when the Mustangs went on a 10-2 run to take a 10-9 lead on a three by Griffin with 10:24 on the clock. The Mustangs took the lead for good at 7:48 when Ervin hit a jumper for a 16-15 lead. The Mustangs built the lead to five (22-17) on a jumper by Nikol Allison with 1:11 left and settled for a 22-19 lead at the break. Cal Poly opened the second half on a 13-2 run to build a 14 point lead on a pair of free throws by Schlemer with 12:19 left in the game and made it a 16 point game on a Allison jumper at 9:04. The Mustangs kept the pressure on, never letting UCSB within 11 the rest of the game. Cal Poly held its largest lead of the game as the team made its free throws down the stretch and a 62-43 win.
