Fullerton Aims for Big West Tourney Spot in Final Week

Photo by Matt Brown
Photo by Matt Brown

GAME 28
Cal State Fullerton at Cal Poly

Wednesday, March 1 | 5:00 p.m
San Luis Obispo, Calif. | Mott Athletics Center
Live Video: FullertonTitans.com
Live Audio: FullertonTitans.com
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com

GAME 29
Cal State Fullerton at UC Irvine

Saturday, March 4 | 6:00 p.m
Irvine, Calif. | Bren Events Center
Live Video: FullertonTitans.com
Live Audio: FullertonTitans.com
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com

Weekly Release (PDF)

THIS WEEK
Cal State Fullerton's regular season will come to an end on the road this week as the Titans travel to Cal Poly on Wednesday (5 p.m.), before tipping off at 6 p.m., Saturday, at UC Irvine.

WEEKLY UPDATE
With two games and one week remaining in the regular season, Cal State Fullerton currently sits at ninth in the Big West Conference standings, trailing UC Irvine - in the eighth spot - by one game. The top eight teams in the league standings advance to the Big West Conference Tournament. The Titans defeated UCI, 64-53, on Jan. 14.
• The Titans' four overall wins in 2016-17 have eclipsed Fullerton's three wins from a season ago. 
• The Titans enter Wednesday's game on a 10-game losing streak.
• Fullerton's streak of 172-plus minutes not holding a lead was ended when Jade Vega opened the game against Hawai'i on Saturday hitting a jumper to give the Titans a 2-0 advantage.

IN THE BIG WEST AND MORE
Iman Lathan is averaging 15.3 points per game, ranking fourth in the Big West Conference. She has led the Titans in scoring on 16 occasions this season and has reached the 20-point plateau 10 times. 
• Sophomore center Daeja Smith's .485 field goal percentage ranks sixth in the Big West Conference and her 7.0 rebounds per game rate seventh. In addition, Smith's 1.4 blocks per game rank third in the Big West.
• Senior center Dhanyel Johnson averages 6.8 rebounds per game to rank eighth in the Big West.
• The Titans have been outscored 531-359 in the third quarter this season.• Cal State Fullerton has yet to win a road game this season at 0-11.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1 AT CAL POLY || 5:00 PM
Series Record:
Cal State Fullerton leads 28-27 (at CP: CP leads 17-8)
Big West Series Record: Cal Poly leads 24-15 (at CP: CP leads 15-4)
First Meeting: W, 66-31 (Feb. 1, 1970) 
Last Meeting: L, 69-45 (Feb. 11, 2017)
Current Streak:  Lost 3 || Last 10: 3-7

CAL POLY NOTES
• With a percentage of .764 (at 346-for-453), Cal Poly enters the week No. 21 in the country in free-throw accuracy. The Mustangs are on pace to surpass the 2010-11 squad (.744) for the single-season team record in program history.
• Cal Poly senior Hannah Gilbert enters the game ranking in the top 10 in school history in both scoring and rebounding. She's No. 7 all-time at Cal Poly with 1,109 career points, as well as No. 6 with 657 rebounds.

SATURDAY, MARCH 4 AT UC IRVINE || 6:00 PM
Series Record:
Cal State Fullerton leads 38-36 (at UCI: UCI leads 21-14)
Big West Series Record: UC Irvine leads 33-30 (at UCI: UCI leads 20-11)
First Meeting: L, 73-62 (Nov. 21, 1980) || Irvine, Calif.
Last Meeting: W, 64-53 (Jan. 14, 2017) || Fullerton, Calif.
Current Streak:  Won 2 || Last 10: 7-3

UC IRVINE NOTES
• UC Irvine sits just one game ahead of Cal State Fullerton in the Big West Conference standings. Depending on results from Wednesday and Thursday, Saturday's game could determine the eighth spot in the Big West Conference Tournament.
• Shereen Sutherland averages 12.1 points per game to lead UC Irvine. 
• The Anteaters rank seventh in the conference averaging 60.2 points per game, while the Titans average 55.8 ppg to rate ninth in the league. Fullerton ranks seventh allowing 67.9 ppg, while UCI ranks ninth allowing 73.5 ppg.

ROSTER UPDATE
Keimeshia Walker has left the women's basketball program and Cal State Fullerton to pursue other opportunities.

THE RETURNERS
Fullerton returns to the floor with just one starter from last year, 5-foot-5 sophomore guard, Jade Vega. In total, the Titans return only three letterwinners with sophomore guard Lauren Nubla and senior center Dhanyel Johnson back on the floor. 

2017 RECRUITING CLASS
The Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team welcomed four commits to the program as high school seniors Laura Dalton, Xinavane Foreman, Carolyn Gill and Mason VanHouten each signed National Letters of Intent to begin their respective collegiate careers at Fullerton for the 2017-18 season, it was announced by fourth-year head coach Daron Park on Nov. 16.

AWARD SEASON
Junior guard Iman Lathan averaged 23.7 points over three games to earn Big West Women's Basketball Player of the Week honors on Dec. 6.The native of Temecula, Calif., led the Titans in scoring in all three games as they went 2-1 overall. For the week, Lathan averaged 6.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals in addition to leading the Titans in scoring.  She also got to the free throw line extensively, making 17 of her 27 attempts.

LAST TIME OUT
Hawai'i senior Briana Harris scored a game-high 20 points helping lead the Rainbow Wahine to a 55-45 victory over Cal State Fullerton on Saturday night at Titan Gym in Big West Conference action.Harris added seven rebounds and knocked down four three-pointers for UH, while Sarah Toeaina and Olivia Crawford poured in 11 points apiece. Toeaina also dished a game-high five assists.Sophomore center Daeja Smith led Cal State Fullerton with 16 points on an 8-of-10 night from the free-throw line, while China Henderson chipped in 11 for the Titans. In her last game at Titan Gym, senior Dhanyel Johnson led Fullerton with eight rebounds.After trailing by one at the break, Fullerton was outscored 17-6 in the third quarter as Hawai'i built a 39-27 lead with 10 minutes to play.

KIDS CLUB
The Titan Kids Club presented by Kaiser Permanente is an exclusive membership club for children in 8th grade and younger. Membership includes a Titan Kids Club T-shirt and free admission to all regular season Titan athletic events plus more (child must wear their Titan Kids Club shirt to receive free admission to games.) Read about the Kids Club HERE.

SUPPORT THE TITANS!
Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting FullertonTitans.com/Tickets. The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278-2783 or by email at athletictixs@fullerton.edu. The Ticket Office is located at the Titan House off of Gymnasium Drive at the eastern end of the Intramural Fields and is open from 10 am – 4 pm PT, Monday – Friday.

FOLLOW THE TITANS
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans), and Instagram (@FullertonTitans) and Snapchat (FullertonTitans). In addition, the women's basketball team has established its own official Twitter page (@WBBTitans) and Facebook Page (WBBTitans).

CATCH THE TITANS
Cal State Fullerton home women's basketball games will be broadcast live over the internet at FullertonTitans.com courtesy of Big West TV. Fans can catch all the exclusive action from the comfort of their home computers. To access the links, click on the audio or live video links on the schedule page.

ATHLETICS TICKETS

For questions or to purchase your ticket(s):

BUY TICKETS ONLINE |(657) 278-2783|