FULLERTON, Calif. – After trailing by as many as 18 points in the second half, the Titans came back to take the lead in the fourth quarter, however, they were unable to hold on as they fell to UC Santa Barbara 59-52 Saturday night at Titan Gym.
Fullerton had its chance at the end of the game to tie it up and possibly send it to overtime. Down three points with just 17 second left, the Titans turned the ball over, all but sealing the game.
The Titans showed their character and resilience battling back from such a large deficit in the second, especially without their best offensive weapon on the court in Daeja Smith. Smith rolled her ankle in the third quarter and was unable to return to the game.
UC Santa Barbara's Drew Edelman finished with a game-high 22 points on 10-15 shooting. With Smith out, the undersized Titans squad had their hands full inside trying to stop Edelman.
With Smith sidelined due to an injury the rest of the team picked up the slack. Hannah Thompson and Carolyn Gill led the way offensively for the Titans with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Gill went 3-4 from the field and 5-7 from the free-throw line while adding eight rebounds. The freshman was not just big for the Titans offensively, her energy and hustle on the defensive end forced several turnovers and made it difficult for the Gauchos to get easy buckets.
Triann Thompson and Xinavane Foreman were big off the bench for Fullerton as Thompson finished with eight points and seven rebounds while Foreman tallied six points and five rebounds.
Fullerton now looks forward to a revenge game against the Gauchos as they travel north to Santa Barbara for a meeting Thursday night at 7 p.m. in the Thunderdome.
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