Women’s Basketball blows out Bethesda 111-19

Vincent Ortiz, Sports Reporter

The CSU Bakersfield women’s basketball team opened the sea-son in dominant fashion against Bethesda University on Tuesday, Nov. 10, recording the program’s largest margin of victory with a 111-19 win.

It was the first home basketball game in 612 days with fans in attendance and the Roadrunners did not disappoint.

From the tip the Roadrunners dominated every facet of the game leading in every statistical category, including a 92-point margin of victory.

The Roadrunners had five players in double figures, including three who recorded double-doubles.

Roadrunner guard Jayden Eggleston led all scorers with 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as well.

Photo by Yvette Meza/The Runner CSUB’s.  Simone Johnson makes her way down the court against CSU Dominguez Hills at the Icardo Center on DATE.

The Roadrunners’ size was apparent from the beginning as the Flames had no answer for center Vanessa Austin who registered six early points in the first quarter before colliding with a teammate and leaving the game with an ankle injury.

After the game, Head Coach Greg McCall said, “it was just a small tweak we could have put her back in but we didn’t want to take any chances.”

Austin could be seen on the sidelines in good spirits cheering on her teammates.

Despite Austin’s ankle injury, the Roadrunners didn’t miss a beat as freshmen forwards Hennie Van Schiak and Kayla Morris came in and notched double-doubles in points and rebounds

Morris said, “I knew I had to pick my game up and be there for Vanessa and my team” and did just that scoring 14 points and 10 rebounds.

For her effort Van Schiak led all players in rebounds with 14 as she controlled the paint in Austin’s absence.

At halftime the Roadrunners led 47-7 and, in most cases, teams leading by such a large margin might let up or lose their intensity.

Not the Roadrunners, not tonight.

The Roadrunners would continue their aggressive play for the remainder of the game. During the fourth quarter the Roadrunners held a 93-point lead (4th, 3:49).

The Roadrunners offense was on point as they shot a collective 52.3% from the field.

Miracle Saxon added 16 points, shooting 6-10 from the field.

Bethesda was led in scoring by guard Kaitlin Romancito with 8 points.

The Flames failed to generate any offense all night despite playing with an energetic pace. The Roadrunners’ full and half court press smothered the Flames and forced them to take poor shots while also racking up 35 turnovers.

The Roadrunners imposed their defensive will on the Flames accumulating 21 team steals. “Games like this are going to help set the tempo for our season,” Eggleston said after the game.

The Roadrunners will need to be at their best as they play a difficult non-conference schedule that includes #9 Oregon State and #20 UCLA.

CSUB (1-0) went on to open a three-game road stretch next at Pacific on Nov. 17 followed by a trip to Corvallis, Oregon to take on #14 Oregon State on Nov. 20.