Cal Poly Back Home to Host CSUN, Long Beach State This Week

Thursday, February 8

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

6 P.M.

CSUN

Tickets

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Back Home to Host CSUN, Long Beach State This Week

2/7/2024 5:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball

WEEKLY NOTES (PDF)

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Currently sitting in fourth place in the Big West standings and just two games back of first place at just over the halfway point of conference play, Cal Poly women's basketball looks to keep things rolling this week with a pair of home games. The Mustangs (11-9, 7-4 BW) will take on CSUN (2-19, 0-11 BW) Thursday at 6 p.m. inside Mott Athletics Center. They will then host Long Beach State Saturday at 2 p.m. Both games will be aired live on ESPN+. Links to that as well as live stats can be found on the schedule page. In their last game, the Mustangs went on the road and beat UC Davis via tough defense, 57-47. It marked the first season series sweep of the Aggies since the 2014-15 season. Graduate guard Ania McNicholas had her best game of the season, notching 20 points, six rebounds, and five steals. Junior guard Annika Shah added 12 points to mark her 11th double digit scoring game of the year. The win over the Aggies came after Cal Poly was forced to cancel its game last Thursday against UC Irvine due to too many members of the team coming down with illness. That resulted in a forfeit loss for the Mustangs. Hawai'i is currently alone in first place at the top of the Big West standings at 9-2. UCSB and UC Irvine are tied for second at 8-3 with the Mustangs right behind them at 7-4. Shah leads the Mustangs in scoring at 12.2 points per game which ranks 11th in the Big West. Shah also leads the team in threes made with 37 and is sixth in the Big West in three point percentage at 38 percent. Meanwhile, senior forward Natalia Ackerman continues to have a big year for Cal Poly. She is second on the team in scoring at 11.8 points per game. She also leads the team in rebounds at 8.0 per game which ranks fifth in the Big West. She tops the Big West in blocks at 2.1 per game which ranks 26th nationally and field goal percentage at 59 percent. As a team in conference games, the Mustangs lead in blocks, are second in field goal percentage, three point percentage, and third in scoring and free throw percentage. 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. Following Saturday's game, the Mustangs will head across the Pacific Ocean to face first place Hawai'i Thursday, Feb. 15 at 9 p.m. PT. SCOUTING CSUN: The Matadors are still seeking their first conference win of the season and have lost their last 19 games overall. The Mustangs have won five of the last seven meetings with them but still trail the overall series 44-43. Freshman guard Amiyah Spriggs leads them in scoring at 9 points per game SCOUTING LONG BEACH STATE: The Beach are 8-13 overall and 3-8 in Big West play heading into the week. The Mustangs won the first meeting in Long Beach earlier this season 64-56. LBSU has been led by junior guard Savannah Tucker who's averaging 12 points per game.