7-7, 2-0
UC Santa Barbara
0-14, 0-1
Blue-Green Rivalry Victory Moves Cal Poly to 2-0 in Big West Conference
1/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Cal Poly women's basketball team outrebounded UC Santa Barbara 42-29 on Saturday afternoon in The Thunderdome on the way to a 56-41 Blue-Green Rivalry win (its eighth in a row in the series), which improved the Mustangs' Big West Conference start to 2-0.
Cal Poly, which never trailed all day, held the Gauchos to 28.6-percent shooting while yielding the lowest output of the season (bettering the 48 allowed to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Nov. 29).
A jumper by freshman Dynn Leaupepe put the Mustangs (7-7 overall) up 8-6 five-and-a-half minutes in, and they led the rest of the way from there — including 30-15 by halftime and 42-23 with 13:15 remaining.
A Kristen Ale 3-pointer off a pass from Beth Balbierz (her third 3 of the game) served as the final dagger with 1:15 left, pushing the gap to 56-38. Ale finished with a team-leading 14 points and tied her career high with five rebounds.
Ariana Elegado had 11 points, six assists and four rebounds. Now with 389 career assists, the senior is only one shy of tying former All-American Laura Buehning for second in school history. (Former teammate Jonae Ervin broke the record a year ago, ultimately finishing with 467.)
Hannah Gilbert added 11 points, while Taryn Garza chipped in eight to go with her nine rebounds (eight of which came in the first half), helping the squad go to 7-2 when outscoring the opponent in the paint. Balbierz also matched her season best with seven boards (as Cal Poly worked for a 24-12 margin on the glass during the opening half).
The Mustangs will return to Mott Athletics Center to host Long Beach State (15-1, 2-0) at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15.
After that, Cal Poly will face defending league champion CSUN (11-5, 1-1) at home at 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17 for #BreakTheRecord Night, when the program will attempt to shatter the all-time single-game attendance record (2,552).
Photos © 2015 David E. Holmes
