NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team lost the last game of its three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon at The Matadome, 82-51, behind 14 points from Cinnamon Lister and 11 points from Tessa Boagni.
The Matadors (15-9, 5-5) used a critical 9-1 run during a two-minute span just before the second media timeout of the first half to take a 22-8 lead with 11:20 to play until the halftime break.
The Titans (9-12, 3-5) could not seem to get their shot going from the outside in the first 20 minutes, shooting 2-of-10 (20 percent) from beyond the three-point line through the first half of the contest. Fullerton had trouble dominating on the boards as they have in past games, and were out-rebounded 22-14 at the halftime break.
CSUN missed their first two shots from beyond the three-point line to start the game, but caught fire after that. The Matadors shot 47 percent (8-of-17) from deep to separate themselves from the Titans on the scoreboard. At the halftime break, CSUN took a 47-27 lead over the Titans into the locker room.
At the start of the second half the Titan defense returned with their signature intensity, and so did Daeja Smith. After leading the Titans with seven points at the break, the freshman could not be stopped in the early minutes of the final frame as she sparked an 11-0 Fullerton run.
Smith and Kathleen Iwuoha dominated the inside during the Titans run that saw their 20-point halftime deficit trimmed to single digits with 14:11 left to play in the game. Smith poured in five points during the six and a half minute run while Iwuoha contributed four points.
At the 13:34 mark of the final frame, Lister finally broke the Titan run with a jumper that fell through the basket for the first Matador points of the half. From there CSUN dominated the rest of the game as they answered the Fullerton run with a 19-2 run of their own, giving them a comfortable 26-point lead with 8:49 left to play.
"This is a tough one to swallow," head coach Daron Park said. "We preach energy, effort, and enthusiasm as the cornerstone of our program and if we can't do that on a consistent basis we are in trouble. CSUN played harder that we did tonight from start to finish, plain and simple. We've got to try to get our student-athletes to understand the kind of hard work, discipline, and sacrifice it takes to win consistently at a high level."
Smith led the way for the Titans on Saturday with her second-career double double as she scored 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. The 6-foot-3 center was just one point and one rebound away from tying career-high marks in both categories. Iwuoha and Chante Miles led all scorers with 15 points each and were the only other two Titans that joined Smith in double figures.
The Titans return to Titan Gym in their next time on the court as they host UC Davis at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Notes: The Titans all-time record against CSUN falls to 32-17…Chante Miles scored in double figures for the 19th-straight contest, extending her career high streak…Miles (1,249 points) also moved to just 10 points shy of passing Marlene Kline (1,259 points) for 11th place all-time on the Fullerton scoring list…Since returning from a three-game absence against UCSB on Jan. 24th, Kat Iwuoha has scored in double figures in four-straight games, and five straight going back to Jan. 8 against UCR…The Titans all-time record against Big West opponents drops to 207-248…Samantha Logan came off the bench for the first time this season at CSUN, making Miles the only Titan to start every game this season…CSUN extends its winning streak over the Titans to eight-straight games and have won nine of ten from Fullerton in the last 10 meetings...After starting Big West Conference play 2-0, the Titans have lost five of their last six games to conference opponents.
