By Johnathan Wheatley
Sports Editor
It’s opening day for college basketball around the country and fans at the Icardo center got their first glimpse at the 2018-19 CSU Bakersfield women’s basketball team.
After last seasons heartbreaking loss to Seattle University in the Western Athletic Conference championship, the Roadrunners first game of the season welcomed Wright State.
A game that was wide open going into halftime soon became a game that was decided in the final seconds.
CSUB needed all 40 minutes of the game to take down the Raiders, as the Roadrunners took the season opener at home 76-74.
“Our toughness got us this win,” said Head Coach Greg McCall.
The first half saw the Roadrunners jump to a 13-point lead going into halftime.
CSUB shot 82 percent from the field in the second quarter and ended the game shooting 51 percent from the field.
The 13-point lead did not last long coming out of the half. The Raiders stormed back and by the end of the third quarter Wright State took a one point lead.
Senior JJ Johnson took over for the Roadrunners in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 of her 18 points.
Johnson put CSUB up by three with 0:11 seconds left in the game after a pair of free throws.
The Roadrunners defense once again came up big as they did not allow a Wright State field goal in the last 3:12 of the game.
Junior Nina Carpenter came up big for the Roadrunners with five blocks in the game, including two in the fourth quarter. Carpenter was a rebound away from having a double-double in her first game at CSUB finishing with 13 points and 9 rebounds.
Senior Alexxus Gilbert led the Roadrunners in scoring with 20 points, a career high.
“We all had one common goal, we just wanted to win the game,” said Gilbert. “We didn’t care how we won, we just wanted to win.”
CSUB will travel to take on UC Santa Barbara on Friday, Nov 9 at 7 p.m.
