Cal State Northridge stuns No. 12 UCLA 77-72 at Pauley Pavilion
From Cal State Northridge:
Sophomore guard Ashlee Guay scored a career-high 28 points, Marta Masoni added 18 points on six three-pointers and the Cal State Northridge Matadors (6-4) upset the No. 12 UCLA Bruins (7-2) 77-72 Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion. With the victory, the Matadors defeated the Bruins for the first time in school history.
Trailing by one at the half, CSUN and UCLA traded leads and ties until the Bruins pulled ahead by four (58-54) with 7:52 left to play. The Matadors answered with a pair of 3-pointers from junior Haley White and took the lead for good with about four minutes to play.
Down the stretch, the Matadors kept the lead thanks to their proficiency from the free throw line. CSUN, led by six from Guay, finished 9-of-10 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes.
Guay sparked the Northridge offense all night, going 9-for-14 from the field and 10-for-12 from the free throw line. She added three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 29 minutes of action.
Masoni’s six three-pointers set a new season high for the freshman. She finished with 18 points, three assits, three steals and two rebounds in 34 minutes of action.
Randi Friess scored six points and led the Matadors with nine rebounds, including four on the offensive side. Haley White tallied eight points and added a pair of key free throws down the stretch to keep the Northridge lead intact.
Coming into the game, Northridge had never earned a win over a ranked opponent and had not beaten a Pac-10/12 opponent since knocking off Oregon State in 1996.
A close contest throughout the 40 minutes, the game featured 12 ties and 17 lead changes. The Matadors shot 44.3 percent (27-of-61) from the field and 45.5 percent (10-of-22) from 3-point range. UCLA finished 24-of-62 (38.7 percent) from the field and 3-of-11 (27.3 percent) from downtown.
The Bruins won the rebounding battle, 47-31, but CSUN finished with more points in the paint, 32-28.
Northridge trailed 33-31 at halftime. Guay had 12 points and Masoni had three 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.
CSUN returns to action on Dec. 29 with a game at nationally ranked Oklahoma.
