CSUB women go cold in loss to Santa Clara

With its leading scorer on the sidelines, a flat offensive effort spoiled the Cal State Bakersfield women’s basketball team’s home opener Friday.

Santa Clara held the Roadrunners to just 2-of-11 shooting from the field in the second quarter, taking the lead for good en route to a 59-49 win at the Icardo Center.

Vanessa Austin, who finished with a game-high 22 points, helped CSUB jump out to a fast start, bullying her way into the paint for three early field goals to build an early 10-3 lead.

“I had a talk with the coaches and they told me that I had to be dominant,” said Austin, who finished 8-of-12 from the field and also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. “They kind of got in me on that so I tried to come out here tonight and do just that. Be dominant for everybody.”

Austin maintained a steady presence inside all night, as she helped CSUB get back within three points in the third quarter after the deficit had reached double digits.

But things were much tougher for the rest of the offense, which was stymied all night on the perimeter by the zone defense of the tall, long Broncos. Roadrunner guards struggled to get any penetration in the paint and were even less effective from the outside, hitting just one of their 14 3-point attempts.

Many of CSUB’s difficulties stemmed from the absence of starting point guard Lexus Green, who missed the game with a concussion she sustained at the end of Tuesday’s loss to Pepperdine.

With Green out, the ‘Runners finished with 24 turnovers and just 11 assists. Playing out of position, coach Greg McCall said Green’s fill-ins were often rushing through sets, which created many sloppy plays.

“I’m hoping that she can get back next game, but it’s something that we’ll see,” McCall said of Green. “It’s a day-to-day process.”

Though disappointed, Austin says she and her teammates aren’t ready to hit the panic button after a second-straight loss dropped them to 1-2.

“It’s tough,” Austin said. “We didn’t have a summer and then it was up and down when we were in the summer. But as far as where we’re headed right now, I think we’re down a good road. We’re going to keep fighting and keep pushing.”