By Peter Castillo
Sports Editor
The CSU Bakersfield women’s basketball team was stifled on the offensive end against Southern Methodist University on Sunday, Dec. 3 in a 41-29 loss.
The Roadrunners (3-4) only shot 19 percent from the floor including only 4-for-29 in the second half.
Sunday’s contest was an offensive struggle that saw SMU (4-5) goes scoreless in the second quarter and saw CSUB score only three points in the fourth.
While the 41 points allowed was a season-low for the Roadrunners, the 29 points scored was also a season-low.
Coming into the game, the Mustangs were scoring 67 points per contest.
The loss drops CSUB to 1-4 on the road.
CSUB senior forward Aja Williams led all scorers with 12 points, but she shot only 5-16. Williams also grabbed seven rebounds.
The Roadrunners led 16-13 at halftime and 26-24 after three quarters.
The Mustangs outscored CSUB 17-3 in the final quarter to take the lead and put the game away.
The CSUB bench outscored the SMU bench 23-7.
The Mustangs outrebounded the Roadrunners 49-40.
Redshirt-senior center Jazmyne Bartee scored four points, pulled down five boards, blocked two shots and recorded two steals, but shot only 1-for-9 from the floor in the loss.
SMU senior center Klara Bradshaw grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Roadrunners won 46-45 on the road at Southern Utah on Nov. 27. Williams posted 17 points in the narrow win against the Thunderbirds.
Defensively, CSUB limited to 34 percent in the game and SMU shot 19 percent from the 3-point line.
Bartee helped the Roadrunners. She shot 3-for-9 on the night, with 10 points. She also had two blocks and two turnovers against the Thunderbirds.
CSUB won the fourth quarter 15-14 that led to the team victory.
According to gorunners.com, Head Coach Greg McCall said, “All the way down to the buzzer, the girls hung tough.”
He added, “We played really well defensively. We struggled a little bit offensively, but we got the buckets we needed and got the stops we needed. I’m proud we got that first road win. It was a tough atmosphere because of the altitude.”
Up next, CSUB is scheduled to travel to Southern California to take on UC Riverside on Wednesday, Dec. 6 at 11 a.m.
The Roadrunners will return to the Icardo Center on Saturday, Dec. 16 when they take on Whittier College at 4 p.m. CSUB continues play through the winter break.
The Roadrunners host the University of Nebraska Omaha Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Icardo Center.
Then, CSUB will hit the road with games at Boise State, Dec. 20 and at Cal Poly, Dec. 29.
Photo courtesy of SMU Athletics
