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Matadors Top @ClemsonWBB in Littlejohn on Sunday

Matadors Top @ClemsonWBB in Littlejohn on Sunday

CLEMSON, SC – The Clemson women’s basketball team fell to Cal State Northridge (1-2), 69-53, on Sunday in Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson (1-2) got 23 points from junior Nikki Dixon off the bench, but no other Tiger scored in double-figures in the contest.  The Tigers will play against South Carolina on Wednesday at 7:00 pm in Littlejohn, and will pit college teammates Audra Smith and Dawn Staley against one another on the sidelines for the first time as head coaches.   Clemson got off to a slow offensive start before pulling within one at 18-17, but the Matadors went on a 14-2 run over the next seven minutes to propel them to a 34-21 lead at the half.  In the second frame, the Matadors stretched their lead to 20 before Clemson clawed it back down to 14 after a pair of fast break lay-ins. The Tigers got no closer than 16, on a hoops from Abrea Harris with just seconds remaining.  Sade Chatman and Charmaine Tay each had six rebounds to lead the Tigers, while Tay and Chelsea Lindsay had two assists apiece.  The MAtadors got 24 points from Cinnamon Lister, 16 from Ashley Guay, and 12 from Camille Mahlknecht. The Matadors shot .433 (26-60) from the field, while holding the Tigers to a .322 (19-59) mark.  Dixon hit all three of Clemson’s three-point goals, and nabbed five rebounds in 24 minutes.  Player of the Game: Nikki Dixon – The junior from Alpharetta, GA scored 23 points on 7-17 FG and a 6-6 mark from the free throw line. 16 of those came in the second half. Stat of the Game: 63 – CSUN’s starters combined for 63 points in the game, while the Tigers’ combined for just 18 points.  Notes:

  • This was the first matchup of all-time between the Tigers and the Matadors
  • Nikki Dixon took a charge with 12:30 remaining in the first half. It was her first of the season and 17th of her career; She is the team active leader. 
  • Clemson allowed their opponents to get their first fast break points of the season. Coming into today, the Tigers had outscored their opponents 24-0 in fast break opportunities. Clemson finished the game with a 10-8 advantage in the category.
  • CUSN connected on 5 of 14 3 point attempts compared to Clemson’s 1 of 6 a margin of 12 points and led by 13 points at the half
  • Paige Mosley scored her first career points as a Tiger on a layup with :25 left in the first half. It came as a putback on her first career rebound. She finished with four points and three rebounds in 16 minutes. 
  • CUSN shot 43% from the field in the game on 26-60 shooting. 
  • With CUSN holding a slim 19-18 lead with 9:22 remaining in the first half, CUSN went on a 16-3 run to end the half
  • Jordan Gaillard took a charge with 16:10 remaining in the second half, the first of her career.
  • For the first time this year Clemson achieved its goal of shooting 80% or above from the free throw line. The Tigers finished 12 of 14 for 86% and are now shooting .795 on the year, up from .647 last season
  • Nikki Dixon finished with a new season high of 23 points including 6-6 from the free throw line. She finished two points shy of her career high of 25 which she set on December 2, 2012.
  • The Clemson bench outscored Cal State’s 35-6, including the 23 from Dixon.
  • Cal State had 17 assists on 26 field goals 

Audra Smith Quotes: Opening Statement: “I have to give all the credit to Cal State Northridge. They came out and played with a ton of heart and a bunch of effort. I told our team that they (Cal St.) was going to come out and run up and down the court and they did. They’re a run and gun team and in their two losses they averaged over 70 points per game. In the second half, though, we came out and started to execute a little better and started competing.” On preparedness of team: “We saw two films on them and we watched them. That’s the kind of game they play. They come and spread you out and they want to shoot from three. They’re the type of team where they don’t care if you score, they’re going to get up and down and make shots. We told our team exactly what they (Cal State) were going to run and they stuck to their game plan.” On play of Nikki Dixon: “Nikki needs to bring that in the first half. You’ll notice that she’s coming off the bench but Nikki needs to come out and do that the first half. She needs to step up and play from the jump and that’s where we need to work with her to get better. We need to battle from start to finish, from the jump.” [<a href=”//storify.com/ClemsonTigers/clemson-v-cal-state-northridge-nov-17-2013″ mce_href=”//storify.com/ClemsonTigers/clemson-v-cal-state-northridge-nov-17-2013″ target=”_blank”>View the story “Clemson v. Cal. State Northridge (Nov. 17, 2013)” on Storify</a>]

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