Led by Tessa Boagni, who scored a game high 21 points in only 19 minutes of action, CSUN defeated Northern Arizona 78-69 Monday night to win the Matadors’ fourth consecutive game.

Leading 17-16 after one quarter of play, NAU charged to a 12-3 spurt that put the Lumberjacks into the lead. Northern Arizona took their largest lead of the first half, 35-25, when Olivia Lucero connected on a layup with 3:07 to play.

CSUN scored nine consecutive points to get within one before Lucero made another layup with 41 seconds remaining. The Matadors played for the last shot. Working the clock down to 10 seconds, Terrin Sullivan launched a three-pointer that tied the score at 37 as the team headed into halftime.

“We came out sluggish, especially on the defensive end,” said CSUN head coach Jason Flowers. “I thought they were aggressive and effective. For some reason, it took us some time to get going.”

CSUN did not allow a Northern Arizona field goal for the first 4:34 of the second half as the Matadors would end up with a 22-4 stretch that would give CSUN a 53-44 lead with just over three to go in the third quarter. The Lumberjacks chopped down the Matadors advantage, using a 13-5 spurt to get to 55-52 when Laurne Orndorf sank a three at the 41-second mark of the third. A Hayley Tanabe basket the next time down sent the teams into the fourth quarter with CSUN ahead 57-52

NAU further reduced the CSUN lead, climbing to within one, 58-57, when Kenna McDavis hit a three-pointer at 6:45. Bogani and Claudia Ramos would connect on back-to-back three pointers to push the CSUN lead out to 64-57. A Lucero layup created a 64-59 score with 3:53 to play, but that would be as close as NAU would get down the stretch. The Matadors posted seven of the next 10 points to get back into a double-digit lead and earn the victory.

Boagni was 8-of-14 from the floor as foul trouble limited her minutes. The 6-2 forward was 3-for-3 from three-point range. Channon Fluker tallied her fifth straight double-double and the 39th of her career (in her 71st career appearance) with 11 points and 15 rebounds. Fluker also blocked three shots, made two steals, and had two assists. Freshman Meghann Henderson recorded eight of her season high 10 assists in the first half. Henderson would commit only one turnover. Eliza Matthews scored eight points to go along with three rebounds off the CSUN bench.

Northern Arizona was paced by McDavis who scored 17 points. Lucero scored 14 before fouling out. Lauren Orndorff scored 14 while Peyton Carroll charted a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds off the bench for NAU.

“As the game went on, I thought we did some things that were better on both ends of the floor,” Flowers said. “The way they defended us, forced other people to make plays, and I thought Tessa was big tonight. Meghann was huge as far as the assists with 10 to just one turnover. Eliza came in and was efficient. Juliana (Louis) came in and brought a lot of energy. Overall, we showed spurts of doing some things well. 22 assists on 29 field goals is a stat we appreciate after turning the ball over early in the season.”

The Matadors (5-6) return to the Blacktop @ The Matadome on Wednesday afternoon when CSUN hosts Omaha (7-4). The Mavericks lost 53-42 to future Big West member CSU Bakersfield Monday night. Coverage on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health begins at 2 p.m.