Cal Poly’s Leaupepe emerging as one of the Mustangs’ most potent scoring threats

With the first half of the Big West Conference schedule in the rearview mirror, the Cal Poly women’s basketball team will likely welcome an opportunity for a fresh start.

The Mustangs completed their first eight games against conference opponents with a 3-5 record and suffered a fourth consecutive defeat Thursday night against Hawaii.

A tall and talented Rainbow Warriors team that leads the conference in rebounding used a fourth-quarter push to secure a 64-58 victory inside Mott Athletics Center.

After starting conference play with three wins in four games, Cal Poly (10-11, 3-5 Big West) has gone winless against each of the top four teams in the Big West standings.

“I think that we learned a lot from our opponents, and we know that we’re not in the position that we want to be in,” head coach Faith Mimnaugh said. “But, at the same time, I don’t think there’s a single team — with the exception of (UC Davis) — that spanked us pretty good. All the other games I think have been really tight.”

Thursday’s matchup was exactly that for the better part of three quarters.

The Mustangs led 31-29 at halftime and trailed 46-45 heading into the final period.

That’s when Hawaii’s Destiny King showed what makes her one of the most experienced players in the Big West this season. Playing in the 112th game of her career, the 5-foot-9 senior forward scored eight of her team-high 12 points in the decisive fourth quarter.

She also drew arguably the toughest defensive assignment on the court in trying to slow down Cal Poly’s red-hot Dynn Leaupepe.

“King was a big factor,” Mimnaugh said. “ … I thought that she stepped up, as you would expect a senior to do, and led her team to victory.”

Leaupepe still managed to turn in one of the best performances by a Mustang this year. The sophomore guard from Camarillo scored a career-high 31 points on 13-for-29 shooting, which bumped her season scoring average to more than 10 points per contest.

Leaupepe has come off the bench in all 21 games, often replacing her twin sister, Lynn, at one of the guard positions. An all-Big West freshman team honoree last season, Leaupepe has emerged as one of Cal Poly’s go-to players offensively since the start of Big West play.

During a 93-83 loss at conference-leading UC Riverside last week, Leaupepe led five Mustangs in double figures with a 25-point, six-rebound performance. Two nights later, she led Cal Poly with 19 points and eight rebounds in a 65-53 loss at second-place Long Beach State.

“Obviously, we’re running a lot more stuff for her so that she can get some shots,” Mimnaugh said. “But she’s got that kind of (way) about her that she wants to be that type of scorer for us.”

With senior point guard Lisa Marie Sanchez (ankle) and junior reserve forward Rachel Koehler (concussion) expected to be out for at least two more games, the Mustangs will need more than Leaupepe’s offense to get back on track.

Their next chance will be 4 p.m. Saturday against UC Irvine, which sits eighth in the conference standings at 4-18 overall and 1-7 against Big West opponents. The Anteaters have lost 13 of their past 14 games, including a 72-54 setback against the Mustangs in early January.

Poly sophomore Gabby Grupalo came off the bench to score a career-high 25 points that night. Grupalo and speedy freshman Dye Stahley have split point guard duties while Sanchez recovers from an ankle injury. Neither player provides the same consistent scoring punch as Sanchez, who shoots 40 percent from behind the 3-point line — the third-highest total in the Big West.

“At the same time, they’ll bring something different defensively for us,” Mimnaugh said. “Sometimes you can turn your defense into offense, and if we can stay on that mindset, hopefully it will sustain us as we’re progressing here.”

This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 1:08 PM with the headline "Cal Poly’s Leaupepe emerging as one of the Mustangs’ most potent scoring threats."