Cal Poly women’s basketball team stymies UC Irvine 50-38
On a night when scoring was at an absolute premium, the Cal Poly women’s basketball team turned in one of its best defensive performances of the season against visiting UC Irvine.
Looking to avoid a fifth consecutive loss in the Big West Conference, the Mustangs overcame a slow start offensively to secure a 50-38 victory Saturday evening inside Mott Athletics Center.
Cal Poly (11-11, 4-5 Big West) held a struggling Anteaters team to their second-lowest scoring effort of the season. It was the fewest points the Mustangs have given up since a 76-36 rout of UC Irvine back in 2013, the same year Cal Poly made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.
“Defensively, I thought we followed the game plan,” head coach Faith Mimnaugh said. “We rebounded the ball well, which is what we need. Huge game, I thought, from a defensive rebounding perspective by Lynn Leaupepe.”
Leaupepe, a sophomore guard, grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds — 11 on the defensive end — and scored 11 points as one of four Mustangs in double figures.
Junior forward Hannah Gilbert was limited by early foul trouble for the second straight game, but she came on strong in the second half. After playing 20 minutes against Hawaii on Thursday — nearly 13 below her season average — the Morro Bay graduate played just six minutes in the first half against UC Irvine (4-19, 1-8 Big West).
She went on to score a game-high 14 points on 7-for-14 shooting and grabbed six rebounds in the victory. Senior Beth Balbierz added 13 points, and Dynn Leaupepe came off the bench to score 10 points and grab five rebounds in 17 minutes.
“So many players got to contribute today,” Mimnaugh said. “I’m pleased that we were able to weather some of the foul trouble early and come up with the win.”
While Cal Poly wasn’t particularly sharp on offense, it limited the Anteaters to 21.9 percent shooting from the field (14 of 64) and outrebounded UC Irvine 52-43. That helped offset a 28.3 percent shooting performance from the Mustangs, who also committed 18 turnovers.
The absence of senior point guard Lisa Marie Sanchez was felt early as well. Sophomore Gabby Grupalo made her second consecutive start, but the Mustangs had trouble establishing a rhythm offensively and turned the ball over five times in the first five minutes.
Dynn Leaupepe continued her strong play offensively, scoring three quick baskets to stabilize a stagnant Cal Poly offense. The sophomore guard from Camarillo has been on some sort of roll over the last two weeks. She scored 25 points at Big-West leading UC Riverside, 19 more at second-place Long Beach State and poured in a career-high 31 on Thursday night against Hawaii.
She’s averaging 19 points over the past five games.
Cal Poly goes back on the road this week to play UC Davis at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Aggies (13-9, 6-3 Big West) got the better of the Mustangs, 75-57, when the two teams met in San Luis Obispo last month.
“Really, my concern is about our offense,” Mimnaugh said. “We’re not going to be able to beat Davis shooting 28 percent.”
This story was originally published February 6, 2016 at 8:04 PM with the headline "Cal Poly women’s basketball team stymies UC Irvine 50-38."