UC Irvine hung exactly 100 points on Cal State Northridge during their women’s college basketball game on Thursday night. However, the Anteaters showed the utmost disrespect toward the Matadors right before halftime with an insane half-court(+) shot right before halftime.
They could have, and probably should have, held the ball.
Before we go any further here— I want to be very clear. I am a firm believer that if a college basketball team does not want its opponent to run up the score, it should play better defense. The goal is always to win the game by as many points as possible. Scoring is not something that should be frowned upon and women’s hoops often gets out of hand.
Now, with that being said, the optics here are pretty awkward. UC Irvine won back-to-back Big West Championships in each of the last two seasons and will be right in the mix for a third-straight NCAA Tournament bid at 17-8 overall. Cal State Northridge would need a miracle run at 4-20.
Needless to say, the Anteaters are much better than the Matadors and stomped them accordingly. The former defeated the latter by a final score of 100-56 on Thursday. Four players finished in double digits.
Shirel Nahum scored 18 of UC Irvine’s 100 points, including the aforementioned buzzer-beater. She chucked up a one-handed prayer from well beyond the half-court line right before halftime. It was an epic bucket but it was also super disrespectful. There was no need to do that…
SHIREL from beyond half court!!! 😮😮#SCTop10 | #TogetherWeZot pic.twitter.com/g8shnMMfSa
— UCI Women's Basketball (@UCIwbb) February 21, 2025
Cal State Northridge was completely demoralized. They threw up their hands in disbelief, or perhaps it was actually belief, because everything was falling for their opponent.
The Anteaters hit 36 of 77 shots, including Nahum’s entirely disrespectful (but awesome) Hail Mary. The Matadors made 17 of 56 and lost by 44. Ouch.