Sports Editor
It’s on to the next one for the third-seeded CSU Bakersfield women’s basketball team as it beat sixth-seeded Seattle University 62-54 on Wednesday at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
With the score tied at 33 and 7:37 left in the third quarter, the Roadrunners were able to go on a 14-6 run to end the period. That run carried over to the fourth quarter and helped CSUB advance to the second round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.
“It was a very intense game,” said CSUB head coach Greg McCall. “Seattle did a really good job coming out with a lot of energy. I thought we did a good job of matching that intensity. Even when we were missing shots our bench was still so energized.”
Seattle went up 7-2 early in the first quarter before CSUB found its rhythm and began to put some points on the board.
CSUB redshirt-junior guard Erika Williams led the Roadrunners with 19 points and four assists.
“This is my third year. Ever since we got into the WAC I’ve been here so the nerves weren’t really there,” said Williams. “I was feeling comfortable because of the fact we played Seattle two other times and we got a win against them.”
Although Williams led the Roadrunners in shooting she only made 3 of her 12 attempts from behind the three-point line and shot 7 of 17 overall from the floor.
“Like coach (McCall) said, Seattle U did a good job of coming out with a lot of energy, so it was just us matching their energy and staying consistent the whole entire game,” said senior guard Alyssa Shannon. “We knew that even though we started off slow our shots were going to fall eventually.”
Shannon finished the game with five points, four rebounds and three steals.
The Roadrunners struggled as a team from behind the three-point line making just 8 of their 27 shots from behind the arc.
Seattle had a hard time taking care of the ball as CSUB forced 25 turnovers and had 26 points off of those turnovers.
CSUB senior forward Batabe Zempare was just two rebounds short of a double-double scoring 10 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
CSUB will play against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Friday at 2:30 p.m. in the Orleans Arena.
