On Wednesday night, Cal Poly women’s basketball seniors Hannah Gilbert and Amanda Lovely finished their home careers with a 73-57 win over Cal State Fullerton at Mott Athletics Center. The duo combined for 23 points in the balanced Cal Poly scoring attack. 

Hannah Gilbert has been a solid four-year contributor in the post for Cal Poly. By Owen Main

The win moved Cal Poly to 7-8 in the Big West and, while they won’t likely be in the top five seeds, the Mustangs have proven they can compete with some of the best Big West schools.

With Gilbert’s four-year career done, I thought of a few things. First, Hannah is a Morro Bay Pirate. My father was as well, so I’ve always rooted for the Mustang center. 

It also made me think about what a great job Faith Mimnaugh has done generally keeping local basketball talent at Cal Poly. With Kristina Santiago, Molly Schlemer as just a few local alumni, there is precedent and a clear pathway for local athletes. Gilbert and Mary-Kate Evans are from San Luis Obispo county as well.

I’m not a guy who says that a ton of players have to be from local schools, but when there are local players who are good enough to play Division I basketball, it is really great for fans to see that coach Mimnaugh and company are able to keep those local players at Cal Poly. 

But I digress. Big congratulations to Hannah and Amanda. Good luck in the Big West Tournament next week, ladies!

Hannah Gilbert and Lisa Marie Sanchez had a dozen points apiece and Cal Poly used tough defense and timely second-half shooting to beat Cal State Fullerton on Saturday night at Mott Athletics Center.

Beth Balbierz had just four points but added four steals and three assists in the Mustang win. By Owen Main

Cal Poly had a tough time being efficient on the offensive end, but the Titans struggled even more to the tune of 23 turnovers.

Fullerton used a 9-2 run to start the third quarter to gain a five-point advantage, but Cal Poly came roaring back with a 13-4 run of their own to take the lead for good.

Gilbert pulled down seven rebounds for Cal Poly (9-7, 2-1), who got a little revenge after losing a Big West Tournament game to the Titans in 2015.

Photos by Owen Main

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Rachel Koehler scored six points in the final minutes on Thursday night. By Owen Main

Ariana Elegado scored 19 points and dished-out eight assists to lead Cal Poly to a 70-65 victory over Hawai’i Thursday night in the Big West Conference opener. Elegado looked downright Tony Parker-like, contributing the basket or an assist on nearly every successful Cal Poly possession.

Sophomore Hannah Gilbert dropped-in 18 points and grabbed six rebounds and freshman Dynn Leaupepe for 13 points and six rebounds.

The game was typical of recent games between these two teams. Neither team led by more than 4 points for the first 36-plus minutes of the game.

Briana Harris came off the bench for the Rainbow Wahine to make five 3-pointers en route to 15 points. Ashleigh Karaitiana paced Hawai’i down low with 9 points and 9 rebounds.’

With Cal Poly’s lead cut to two points and 4:06 remaining in the second half, Rachel Koehler scored six straight points in a span of less than two minutes. Koehler had come on for Taryn Garza, who fouled out with over five minutes to play. Up until the bucket at 4:06, Koehler had zero points and four fouls in the game. The sophomore from Montana scored six of Cal Poly’s final eight points to help secure the victory.

After a four-game losing streak in December, the Mustangs are now 2-0 in 2015, 1-0 in conference play, and 6-7 overall this season.

While Cal State Northridge was the overwhelming preseason favorite to win the Big West for the second straight season, Hawai’i and Cal Poly were picked to finish second and third respectively.

The Mustangs will visit Blue-Green rival UC Santa Barbara for a 2:00 PM game on Saturday in the Thunderdome.

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Hannah Gilbert had career highs of 16 points and 11 rebounds. By Owen Main

On Saturday afternoon at Mott Athletics Center, Cal Poly women’s basketball used a surge late in the first half to erase most of a 14-point deficit and kept the momentum going into the second half to beat Portland 76-67 in their home opener.

Ariana Elegado led the Mustangs’ attack with 19 points and five assists. Sophomore center Hannah Gilbert notched career-high totals of 16 points and 11 rebounds. Gilbert, who hails from Morro Bay High School, has taken the place of departed Big West Player of the Year winner Molly Schlemer in this year’s lineup.

Senior Kristin Ale, who looked a step quicker and a bit more aggressive on the offensive end than she did a season ago, also tallied 16 points in the game.

The early 14-point deficit came on the heels of a 15-4 Portland run during which Cal Poly missed 12 of 14 shots and four straight free throws. Eventually the Mustangs

The first half was one of the slowest halves I’ve seen. In it, Cal Poly drew 7 offensive fouls from Portland and the officials called 27 fouls. Once the game settled down and got some flow in the second half, Cal Poly was able to take control. With Elegado pushing the ball, freshman sisters Lynn and Dynn Leaupepe played strong defense and got out on the break.

Gilbert used her speed as well to beat her post counterparts down the court, setting-up Cal Poly’s wing players to get open for shots and drives.

Cal Poly, which plays four games at home this week is now 2-1 on the season. The Mustangs host Pepperdine on Tuesday at 7:00. On Friday and Saturday, the Mustangs will host Dartmouth and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Those games will start at 5:00 pm.

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Over the past six years, Faith Mimnaugh has had the best run of her nearly 20 years as Cal Poly’s head coach. By Owen Main

It’s safe to say Faith Mimnaugh and Cal Poly women’s basketball have had a good run over the past six years. With players like Kristina Santiago, Rachel Clancy, Molly Schlemer, Jonae Ervin, and Arianna Elegado, the Mustangs have had six straight winning seasons. Those years included four straight Big West Conference Players of the year, three conference championships, one Big West Tournament championship, three trips to the WNIT, and the program’s first birth into the NCAA Tournament.

This offseason, the Mustangs lost Schlemer, but got some positive news when the already-graduated Elegado announced she’d return for her final season of eligibility as a Mustang.

In this podcast, Mimnaugh discusses her reaction when she found out in August that Elegado was coming back. We also discussed the makeup of the team, renovations to Mott Athletic Center, and what style of play we might see out of the Mustangs this season.

Cal Poly released a statement on Wednesday announcing letters of intent for three guards — two of whom are from Texas.With three seniors on this year’s roster (Drake U’u, Chris O’Brien, and Dylan Royer), coach Joe Callero has three players coming in with perimeter skills.

My favorite part of writing this was watching the YouTube highlight videos of each of these guys, especially when it came to the music. Two of them have upbeat hip-hop tracks and one is, well, a little more mellow.

Markel Leonard, a point guard from Salesian High School in Hercules, CA seems quick, instinctive, and shifty.

The Leonard video with the sweet music track:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OtwncUeHcQ

The “silent” video (might be the exact same thing without the sweet beats):

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5xmNywwb1U

Ridge Shipley, another small guard from Hebron High School in Carrollton, TX, seems to have and also quickness to get around defenders and get his own shot. Highlights also show court vision and a LOT of confidence with the ball in his hand. Another sweet track in the video…

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKtHD5CvyxU

OK, I have to admit it. This last video is my favorite of the three. Taylor Sutlive from Churchill High School in San Antonio, TX is a lanky wing player with no conscience. He shoots from everywhere. His highlight video shows him cruising at-times, just waiting for an open shot somewhere inside half-court. He has longish hair probably adds to my perception of a mellow, laid-back bomber.

Sutlive’s video exhibits the ultimate “you better get out on that guy!” guy. Despite that, he also shows that he can get up and throw down on occasion and also showcases a developed pull-up game. He shows he’s a guard who can rebound and makes some really nice “look-ahead” passes to teammates. The slowed-down music still has all the rhythm that it’s clear Sutlive has in his shot.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6fOcMTRrxo

Here’s an older version of Sutlive set to an Eminem track. Looks like he grew a lot going into his junior season.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8sfhFFifgk

It looks like Sutlive went to a pretty fun high school too. In this video, basically the whole high school participates in a one-shot lip-dub. Sutlive makes a 10-second appearance at the 7:50 mark.

Without seeing these guys in-person, it’s really hard to know what kind of players they’ll be at Cal Poly. Joe Callero has a few recruiting outposts now (Illinois and Texas) and seems to have a plan for the program in his fourth year — losing three perimeter players after this year and recruiting three more.

Cal Poly’s first home game of the season is tonight at 7PM vs. Northern Colorado at Mott Gym.

UPDATE

The women’s team announced four letters of intent on Thursday — all from front-court players.

Hannah Gilbert (Morro Bay High School) and Mary Kate Evans (Atascadero High School) highlight the incoming group for coach Faith Mimnaugh. Neither have videos on YouTube, but both are at least six feet tall, which is a nice thing to have in the Big West.

Sarah Lipton from Woodbridge High School in Irvine is also over six feet tall, standing at 6’1”. As a high school player, she shoots almost 40 percent from 3-point range and should also fit into Mimnaugh’s run-and-gun offensive system.

Lipton has a pair of youtube videos. They showcase a pretty well-developed offensive game:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vXmUAzPzMs

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU5hhtObt_E

Rachel Koehler is a recruit from Billings, Montana (Billings Senior High School). Koehler is a forward who Mimnaugh described as “explosive and physical.” No YouTube video for Koehler either.