FULLERTON, Calif. – The Titans played their first game action of the new season in Titan Gym Thursday night and came out victorious beating Concordia 69-54 in an exhibition game.
"Anytime you can walk away with a win, it's a good thing," said head coach Jeff Harada. "Take nothing away from Concordia because they are a tough, well-coached team, but we didn't shoot well from the perimeter and had too many mental lapses defensively. Fortunately, Daeja was a big presence for us and we were able to get her the ball when we needed to."
Daeja Smith led the way with a double-double performance finishing with 25 points and 10 rebounds on 12-17 from the field. Hannah Thompson was second on the team in scoring putting up 13 points and grabbing five rebounds. Jade Vega was the third and final Titan in double-figures with 12 points and five assists. Raina Perez had a solid night in her first game as a Titan finishing with six points, six rebounds, and five assists.
On the other side, Concordia was led by Jasmine Rachal who put up 17 points. Tiana Lowery put up 12 points, while Riley Friauf had 10 points to go along with eight rebounds. Michaela Vanderklugt led the Eagles with 10 rebounds.
Smith got the scoring started right out of the gate with a layup in the first 12 seconds and the Titans never looked back. Led by five points each from Smith, H. Thompson, and Book, Fullerton came out of the first shooting just shy of 50% from the field and held a seven-point lead.
In the second quarter, CSF struggled a bit on the offensive end shooting just 35.3% and totaling 15 points. However, they stepped it up on defense, holding the Eagles to just eight points on 1-15 shooting. The Titans went into the half with a 14-point lead led by Smith's 11 points.
The third quarter was the worst for the Titans as they were outscored 14-12. Following a Smith layup at the 6:12 mark, Fullerton went on a five-minute drought where they missed nine straight shots. They did end the quarter on a good note as Vega went coast to coast with less than 10 seconds and left to eventually finish with a layup at the buzzer.
The fourth quarter was a nice turnaround for Fullerton as they put up 21 points, but could never pull away as they allowed 18 to the Eagles. However, led by Smith's 10 fourth quarter points, the Titans matched Concordia shot for shot and eventually came out with the 69-54 victory.
Harada also went on to say, "we definitely did some good things tonight and have a few more days to fine tune some other things before the games start to count. I know we are all excited to officially begin."
Fullerton will play the official season opener on Tuesday, November 6 at Seattle University. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
Homecoming – Saturday, December 1, 2018
Cal State Fullerton is set to host its first ever Double Header at the 2018 Homecoming Event on Saturday, December 1st. Women's Basketball takes on CSU Bakersfield at 2:30pm followed by Men's Basketball taking on Cal Lutheran at 6:00pm. In between the two games fans can take part in the Homecoming pre-game festival. Homecoming package includes general admission to the festival and both Women's and Men's Basketball games, a custom student designed T-shirt, meal voucher for In-N-Out Burger, and non-alcoholic beverages. Click HERE for Homecoming Package options. The pre-game festival begins at 2:00pm, so come early and make a day out of it with the Titans! For more information on Homecoming go to https://alumni.fullerton.edu/studentoutreach/homecoming
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.
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Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans), and Instagram (FullertonTitans). In addition, the softball team has established its own Twitter (@FullertonWBB) and Instagram accounts (@FullertonWBB).
