Top-seeded UC Irvine presents offensive challenge for CSUB women
Mar. 7—HENDERSON, Nev. — Taylor Caldwell, Sophia Tougas and Hennie van Schaik all posted exemplary offensive performances for Cal State Bakersfield in its first-round game Tuesday at the Big West Conference tournament.
Caldwell willed her way to bucket after hard-fought bucket in the paint, Tougas was deadly from outside and van Schaik asserted herself against the CSUN post players.
The only problem for the CSUB offense? No one else converted a single field goal. And now, 22 hours after the Roadrunners' emotional victory, they will come face to face with one of the nation's top defenses.
UC Irvine, which on Saturday won the Big West's regular-season championship on the floor of the Icardo Center, will clash with the Roadrunners for the second time in a five-day span when they meet in Henderson Wednesday.
"Of course, they advanced, they won the game over at our place," CSUB coach Greg McCall said Tuesday, "but I think we got some things figured out, some things we're gonna do differently, and I think that we'll come out a little more (hungry), of course, and we'll be ready to go."
The Anteaters allow the fewest points per game in the Big West at 53.1, a mark good for No. 8 in the nation as of Tuesday afternoon. They do this with a combination of possession control — they lead the conference in total and offensive rebounds — and strong perimeter defense, as opponents shoot just 27.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Despite losing three top players to season-ending injuries over the course of the year, which eventually led to two late-season UCI games getting canceled, the Anteaters have continued to pick up wins by any means possible. They set school records for both overall and conference wins and went unbeaten on the road in Big West play.
They were rewarded with a slew of individual honors, including an All-Big West First Team designation for the injured Hunter Hernandez and honorable mentions for three more players, including Best Sixth Player Nevaeh Parkinson, a bruiser in the post. Diaba Konate, a transfer from Idaho State who ranks near the top of the conference in assists, free-throw percentage and steals, was named to the All-Defensive Team.
Konate and Parkinson played pivotal roles in the Anteaters' narrow win over CSUB on Saturday. Parkinson went basket for basket with Kayla Morris, the Roadrunners' lone double-digit scorer that day, and finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Konate led the way with 15 points and added six more boards. Nevaeh Dean matched Parkinson's stat line exactly. All three contributed to UCI's game-ending 13-5 run, which was composed almost exclusively of free throws.
The Roadrunners led 38-35 with 3:32 left in the third quarter on the strength of Morris' eight points in the period but ultimately lost 59-48.
"It was a really good, hard, grueling match that we played," McCall said.
It also bore a strong resemblance to when the teams first met, way back on Dec. 31 in the Bren Events Center. That game saw CSUB hold the Anteaters scoreless for nearly six minutes in the fourth quarter and take a two-point lead before Olivia Williams, Hernandez and Parkinson closed the game out with clutch points late. Williams and Naomi Hunt, who led the way for UCI that day, are no longer healthy.
In short, less has separated these teams this year than the usual No. 1 and No. 9 seeds.
"They're a tough team," McCall said. "They won the conference, but right now it doesn't matter where you are in the records."
The Roadrunners took top-seeded Hawaii down to the wire in the second round last year but fell 42-41, an effort they will be hoping to emulate but ever so slightly exceed Wednesday.
Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.
