FULLERTON, Calif. – After trailing by 11 points at halftime, Cal State Fullerton women's basketball came stampeding back in the second half to end its nine-game losing streak with a 71-62 win over UC Riverside Thursday night at Titan Gym.
The Titans came out of the locker in the second half with a different energy, leading to a dominating performance in which they outscored the Highlanders 26 to eight in the third quarter.
Point Guard Jade Vega and shooting guard Hannah Thompson sparked the run in the third as they scored nine points and eight points, respectively. Fullerton also caught fire from behind the arc in the third as they drained four within a matter of minutes to gain the momentum right away.
Vega showed her poise and leadership down the stretch for the Titans, scoring seven points in the final quarter to close the game out for Fullerton. 15 of Vega's tied for team-high 19 points came in the second half.
The junior point guard wasn't alone offensively for Fullerton. Center Daeja Smith continued her dominance in the paint, scoring 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. Smith also added eight rebounds to her impressive shooting night.
Smith may have had a good night rebounding, however, when it came to dominating the glass it was all about China Henderson who had a game-high 15 rebounds for the Titans. Of Henderson's 15 rebounds, four of the came on the offensive glass to give Fullerton extra possessions. The senior fell just one rebound short of tying her career-high with 16 rebounds.
H. Thompson continued to move up the Fullerton record books Thursday night as she drained three 3-pointers to give her a Big West Conference-leading 67 on the season. Thompson's 67 three's is tied for 5th most in a single season in program history.
With the win the Titans keep pace with Long Beach State in the conference standing with a 3-10 record in Big West play.
Fullerton looks to carry this momentum on the road as they travel to San Luis Obispo for a meeting with Cal Poly at 2 p.m. PT Saturday afternoon.
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