Mustangs Head South to Face UC San Diego Thursday

Thursday, January 19

La Jolla, CA

7 P.M.

UC San Diego

Mustangs Head South to Face UC San Diego Thursday

1/18/2023 11:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

WEEKLY NOTES (PDF)

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Coming off a dramatic buzzer beating home win over UC Riverside Monday, the Cal Poly women's basketball team hits the road Thursday to face UC San Diego before returning back home Saturday to take on UC Davis.

Tip time against the Tritons (7-9, 4-2 BW) Thursday is set for 7 p.m. Saturday's game against the Aggies (6-10, 2-4 BW) is set for 4 p.m. Saturday's game is 'Teachers Day'; any teacher who shows their school I.D. at the ticket office will receive up to four free tickets for that game.

Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+. Links to that as well as live stats to follow can be found on the schedule page.

For the second time this season, the Mustangs (5-9, 2-4 BW) picked up a win via game winning shot Monday after graduate Oumou Toure made a layup with the game tied as time expired to give Cal Poly a 49-47 win over UC Riverside.

Senior guard Maddie Willett scored a season-high 16 points to lead the scoring charge for the Mustangs. Sophomore guard Annika Shah put in 13 points while Toure and junior guard Junie Dickson both added eight points.

It was defense that helped Cal Poly pull of the win, holding UC Riverside to 35 percent shooting from the field and 18 percent from three.

In all five of Cal Poly's wins this season, the Mustangs have held opponents to 53 points or less.

Sophomore guard Annika Shah continues to lead the team in scoring at 10.6 points per game while also leading the team is assists at 2.2 per game.

Through the first six games of the conference season, the Mustangs rank third in the Big West in scoring defense, holding opponents to 54.8 points per game. Thay are also third in opponent field goal percentage, holding teams to 37.6 percent shooting and are second in opponent three point shooting percentage, holding teams to 27 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

Thursday's game against UC San Diego will start a stretch in which the Mustangs will play three of their next four games on the road. Following Saturday's home game against UC Davis, they will play a pair of road games next week against Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton.

Scouting UC San Diego: Still ineligible for postseason play due to their transition from Division II to Division I, UC San Diego is off to a 4-2 start in Big West play and is 7-9 overall. They have won four of their last five games, including their last two with wins over CSU Bakersfield and UC Davis. Sydney Brown leads the team and is fifth in the conference in scoring at 13.7 points per game. She's scored in double figures 12 times, including three of the last four games. As a team they are second in the conference in made threes at seven per game.

Scouting UC Davis: After falling to UC San Diego 65-63 on Monday, the Aggies are 2-4 in the Big West and 6-10 overall so far this season. Guard Evanne Turner leads the Big West in scoring at 15.9 points per game and in three point shooting at 38 percent. As a team, they lead the conference in threes per game at 7.4 and defensive rebounding. Cal Poly will be seeking its first win over UC Davis since the 2014-15 season.

Shah Leads The Scoring: Sophomore guard Annika Shah leads the Mustangs in scoring this season at 10.6 points per game. That's an improvement of more than six points more than what she averaged as a freshman last season, the biggest jump of anyone on the team. She's scored in double figures six times, including over 20 twice and has led the team in scoring in six of the 14 games so far.

Block Party: Junior forward Natlia Ackerman leads the Mustangs in blocks with nine for the season. Six of those came two weeks ago when she had three blocks in each game against CSU Bakersfield and UCSB. She also leads the team in rebounding at 5.3 per game and set her season-high of 10 last week against UCSB.