Cal Poly Welcomes Fresno State to Mott Saturday for Home Opener

Saturday, December 9

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

2 P.M.

Fresno State

Tickets

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Welcomes Fresno State to Mott Saturday for Home Opener

12/8/2023 11:41:00 AM | Women's Basketball

WEEKLY NOTES (PDF)

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After playing its first seven games of the regular season on the road, Cal Poly women's basketball will finally get a chance to play in front of its home crowd Saturday when hosting Fresno State in the home opener. The Mustangs (2-5) will tip things off against the Bulldogs (6-4) at 2 p.m. inside Mott Athletics Center. The game will air live on ESPN+ with Daniel Gillman providing the play-by-play. A link to that as well as live stats can be found on the schedule page. Cal Poly returns to Mott this weekend after a tough road stretch to begin the year in which they faced three teams ranked in the Top 25. They did pick up good road wins over Idaho and Seattle during that span. So far, it's been junior guard Annika Shah leading the team in scoring at 10 points per game. She also leads the team in three-point shooting. Right behind her has been senior forward Natalia Ackerman at 9.6 points per game. Ackerman is the team leader in rebounds (7.1) and blocks (1.6) per game.She has scored double figures in five of the first seven games so far, including a double-double of 14 points and 15 rebounds against Idaho. Cal Poly currently ranks third as a team in the Big West in three-point shooting at 35-percent. They've had three games so far making at least eight threes. The Mustangs have been doing this all with a very new and young team. There are nine newcomers to the team with just four returners. The four returners are Shah, Ackerman, redshirt freshman Sierra Lichtie, and junior guard Sydney Bourland. The nine newcomers consist of four Division I transfers and five true freshmen. Folllowing Saturday's game, the Mustangs are back at home Saturday, Dec. 16 against the University of Montana at 6 p.m. Scouting Fresno State: Cal Poly will be looking for a repeat of last year's meeting with the Bulldogs in Fresno. The Mustangs beat them 49-47 on an Annika Shah buzzer beater which was head coach Shanele Stires' first Division I win. This season, Fresno State is off to a 6-4 start. They have already faced four Big West teams, going 2-2 against them. They have three players averaging double figures in scoring. They like to score from inside the arc as 68-percent of their shot attempts so far have been two-pointers.