Two-time Big West player of the year Channon Fluker didn’t do much, by her elite standards.
Cal State Northridge didn’t need her to.
The Matadors stuck stubbornly to a zone defense and Hawaii persisted with misses. The Rainbow Wahine recorded the fifth-lowest scoring output in program history — and their least since the 1981-82 season — in a 49-29 loss to the Matadors on Thursday night.
Yes, 29.
The Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 438 was silent as the Wahine, who were coming off a rousing win over defending Big West champ UC Davis five days prior, chucked up brick after brick, finishing with 22.2 percent shooting (12-for-54). They earned only four trips to the free-throw line.
“I was concerned all week long with the level of focus that we had,” UH coach Laura Beeman said. “I’ve never been a part of something where you have such a great win and you come back and you just don’t execute anything.”
UH (5-11, 1-2 BWC) managed just six points in each of the first three quarters.
“We were unable to execute any sort of a game plan,” Beeman said. “When you have three quarters of six points and one of nine, you’re not ready to play basketball.”
A strong defensive effort was wasted against the defending Big West tournament champion.
Fluker came into the night averaging better than 26 points and 10 rebounds per game against Hawaii for her career. This time, she came off the bench for what CSUN’s Jason Flowers called a “coach’s decision.” She was still a presence that commanded attention, but she was also not her dominant self, finishing with 10 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes.
CSUN (8-9, 2-1) shot only 34.5 percent but beat Hawaii for the seventh time in eight games, anyway. It was the second-lowest point total allowed by the Matadors in their 29-year Division I history.
“It’s a combination of several things,” Flowers said. “I thought there were times we had great defensive possessions. At times there were breakdowns and they just missed shots. You know, I’ve been in this deal long enough to know we’re not the ’96 Bulls. Our defense isn’t stymieing to that extent.”
UH knew zone was coming and prepared for it heavily in its practices.
“We were ready for it. We knew how they were going to run it,” Beeman said. “It goes back to execution. We just didn’t execute what was open for us tonight. We just didn’t do it.”
UH, the top Big West team in 3-point marksmanship, finished 3-for-23 (13 percent) from beyond the arc. No Wahine player scored more than five points.
It shot 17.9 percent (5-for-28) from the field in the first half. Its 12 first-half points were one point off the building’s women’s basketball record for scoring futility in a half, set by Denver against Connecticut in 2002.
It was apparent by then that the program-record low of 25 vs. California on Jan. 15, 1977 was in jeopardy. Finally, Lauren Rewers’ spin move with 4:32 left got UH to 25 and Jadynn Alexander followed with a rare fast-break hoop to put UH past the record dating back to the third season in program history, well before the 3-point line existed.
They finished with their lowest output since an 80-28 drubbing at San Diego State on Jan. 21, 1982.