LONG BEACH, CALIF. >> As Channon Fluker walked away from the postgame interview table, a staffer announced the Big West player of the year had come within a mere point of tying the Cal State Northridge scoring record.

Fluker smiled and said, “Dang it.” The 6-foot-4 center had her way everywhere else in the Matadors’ 71-64 defeat of Hawaii in the Big West tournament second round, steamrolling the undersized Rainbow Wahine front line on her way to 39 points and 12 rebounds at the Walter Pyramid.

“I think tonight I really just played and whatever I felt I really just did,” Fluker said.

Defending tournament champion UH led by 12 points early but ultimately could not overcome a 52-33 deficit on the glass, including 20 CSUN offensive rebounds. UH saw its four-game winning streak snapped and season end at 12-18.

A night after UH beat Cal Poly for a third time this season, CSUN (18-13) turned to its superior size to sweep the three-game season series from UH.

UH coach Laura Beeman thought her team was playing its best basketball of the season and was disappointed it could not showcase its improvement at the Honda Center in Friday’s semifinals.

“The offseason’s going to be huge for this group. We have to make some changes,” Beeman said. “Our post play has to improve in order for us to see success at the level we want to see success. So I challenged them (postgame), in the offseason don’t forget how it feels in this locker room right now.”

Sarah Toeaina helped ignite an early 13-1 run with eight of her 10 points but missed her final eight shots. Senior guard Briana Harris scored a team-high 11 points on 4-for-16 shooting in her final game.

“I would say it’s always tough losing this way,” Toeaina said. “With a senior on the team, you definitely want to win and go out for her.”

UH gave itself a chance by knocking down all of its free-throw attempts — albeit just nine — and committing a season-low four turnovers.

Sixth-seeded UH played well enough to claim a 35-29 halftime lead and was tied with third-seeded CSUN early in the fourth.

Harris went down fighting. She drew her team to within two on a three-point play with 6:01 remaining, and within 63-59 on a 3-pointer with 1:14 to go. But CSUN made 10 of 12 free throws in the final two minutes to seal it.

Fluker had one of the most dominant performances against Hawaii in program history, four points off the UH opponent record of 43 set by Genia Miller of Cal State Fullerton in 1990. The sophomore shot 14-for-23 from the field — including several jump shot makes — and 10-for-18 from the stripe.

“If she keeps working, she’s going to be OK,” joked CSUN coach Jason Flowers. “She could end up being pretty good before it’s over.”

Wednesday was no fluke; Fluker had gone for 33 and 15 in an 11-point win in Honolulu last month.

UH was forced to hack away in compromised positions; it was whistled for 26 fouls to CSUN’s 10.

“(Attacking UH), pushing them down lower, up under the basket, because they are smaller,” Fluker said. “Just posting up early, cutting in front, making them move around helps.”

UH tried to bring hard double teams at her from all angles and at every opportunity. But once she caught the ball in the low post, it hardly seemed to matter.

“It takes five people to do it every possession,” said guard Olivia Crawford, who had eight points and six assists a night after scoring a career-high 21. “I think that was some of the breakdown, just doing it over and over again and seeing the ball go in the basket for her is a little deflating, but the fact that we kept sticking with it was really good.”

Fluker’s teammates capitalized on the glass with so much attention paid to the center. Tessa Boagni grabbed 13 boards to go with her 13 points off the bench and forward Eliza Matthews corralled 11 misses. Guard Emily Cole brought down eight.

“That to me is the difference in the ballgame,” Beeman said. “You don’t want to give someone 40 points, but Russell Westbrook had 58 the other day and (the Thunder) lost. If she has 40 and we do our job on the boards, and we don’t allow some of the second-chance opportunities and the fouls that occurred, it’s a different ballgame.”