By Esteban Ramirez
Sports Editor

It was a slow start for the second-seeded CSU Bakersfield women’s basketball team.
However, once the first-game jitters went away, CSUB cruised to a 77-53 victory over No. 7 seeded-Chicago State University in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on March 11.
The Roadrunners trailed the Cougars 9-4 early in the game, but after a timeout CSUB responded by going on a 21-2 run thank to its defense.
“Our defense started to create more turnovers,” CSUB coach Greg McCall said. “We started to knock down easy shots, running the floor and getting teammates the ball a lot quicker.
“It’s what we have been talking about all season long and it’s what got us there. We had a little bit of jitters starting off, but we locked in and played defense.”
Redshirt-senior guard Tyonna Outland added that it took the team a while to just calm down and play their game.
“We had to realize that there were things that weren’t working and it was us,” Outland said. “Most of the time when we are messing up it is because of us. We just had to calm down, get the jitters out and just play our game.”
Because of its defense forcing turnovers, CSUB also got its offense rolling thanks to good ball movement. The Roadrunners finished with 20 assists.
“[Those assists] mean a lot because at any time somebody can shoot the ball,” McCall said. “We turned down so many shots one time that it was unbelievable to see the ball movement. It was really, really good to see that. That is really crucial.”
The Roadrunners continued to put the pressure on the Cougars and tha

nks to a buzzer-beating three pointer from junior guard Alyssa Shannon, who finished with 12 points, CSUB went into halftime with 40-23 lead.
CSUB once again started off a little slow in the second half as the Cougars cut the lead 42-28 with 16:03 left in the game. However, the Roadrunners responded again with a 7-0 run that allowed them roll past the Cougars.
Outland led the team with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Fellow senior guard Brooklynn Hinkens added 14 points, including 12 from beyond the three-point line.
“This was just another game to get where we wanted to get,” Outland said. “We wanted to work on our defensive rotations and put it in game perspective, so we can just get more comfortable on the floor.”
Despite this game being at a neutral site, CSUB still was the home team because it was the higher seed. Therefore, the Roadrunners were able to extend their home-game winning streak to 23 straight.
McCall added that this is just the first step for the ’Runners in achieving their goals.
“It’s one game at a time and one step at a time,” he said. “We just have to keep building on that.”
CSUB is scheduled to play against No. 3 seed University of Texas-Pan American in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament on Friday at 2:30 p.m.
UTPA beat No. 6 seeded-University of Missouri-Kansas City 61-50 in the first round.