FULLERTON, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team is heading to the pacific northwest to open their 2018-19 season. They will take on Seattle on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. and Washington on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
The Titans are 4-0 all-time against Seattle with their last matchup coming in 2015, while Fullerton and Washington have never met in program history.
50TH ANNIVERSARY
This season marks the 50th year of women's basketball at Cal State Fullerton. The program made its debut in the 1969-70 season and won the CIAW National Championship that year.
2017-18 RECAP
The Titans finished last season 8-21 (3-13 Big West) which resulted in a ninth place finish in the Big West Conference. It marked the third straight year that Cal State Fullerton has missed out on the conference tournament.
THE HARADA ERA ENTERS YEAR TWO
While it wasn't the finish the team wanted last season, Head Coach Jeff Harada and staff had a promising first season totaling eight wins in 2017-18. The eight wins is more than the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons combined.
Under Harada's leadership, the team had one of the better offensive seasons in recent years. For the 17-18 season, the Titans averaged 59.9 points per game marking the best ppg since the 2013-14 season. They also shot 38% from the field and averaged 12.3 assists per game, both program bests since the 2010-11 season.
WELCOME BACK
Cal State Fullerton welcomes back eight players from last year's active roster including four of last year's starting five in Jade Vega, Hannah Thompson, Carolyn Gill, and All-Big West Second Team selection Daeja Smith.
NEW TO THE TITAN FAMILY
The Titans welcome in six new players to the program for the 2018-19 season. Clarissa Rodarte, Amiee Book, Janette Mensah, and Madison Freemon are all incoming freshman, while Taylor Turney is a junior transfer from San Jose State and Joy Krupa is a junior transfer from Westmont College.
IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Several Titans have found their way into the record books on the all-time career leaderboards:
Daeja Smith.............................. 2nd in Blocks (100)
....................................................... 9th in Field Goal Percentage (47.4%)
....................................................... T-6th in Double-Doubles (18)
Jade Vega................................. 10th in Free Throw Percentage (71.9%)
Hannah Thompson.............. 3rd in Three-Point Percentage (37.1%)
EXCLUSIVE CLUB
Daeja Smith had a phenomenal year last year totalling 350 points and 259 rebounds. That gives her 808 career points and 597 career rebounds making her just the 15th player in Fullerton history to accumulate 800-plus career points AND 500-plus career rebounds. With three more rebounds, she will be the eleventh player to ever have 800+ points and 600+ boards.
ROAD TO 1K
Only 23 Titans have ever surpassed the 1,000-point mark for their careers, but there could be two more to reach it this year. Daeja Smith currently sits at 808 and Jade Vega is right behind at 805.
BIG WEST ALL-CONFERENCE
For the first time since 2011, the Titans are represented on the All-Big West preseason team. After a great 2017-18 season, senior Daeja Smith earned a spot on the All-Conference preseason team. She is coming off a season where she earned a Big West
ONE OF THE BEST BIGS IN THE NATION
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced their watch list for the Lisa Leslie Award and Daeja Smith was one of the 20 names on it. The award is in its second year and recognizes the best center in the NCAA.
HANNAH FOR THREE
Senior Hannah Thompson wasted no time making her name known on the Titans. To go along with her 37.1% ranking third all-time from beyond the arc, her 72 made three-pointers was fifth-most for a single-season in program history.
THE LONE REDSHIRT DEBUTS
Raina Perez joined the Titans last year after transferring from Northern Arizona University, but was forced to redshirt. In her freshman season at NAU, she averaged 10.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. She ended the final eight games of that season as the starting point guard and averaged 17 points per game, reaching double-figures in all of them. She led all freshmen in Big Sky Conference play with 11.9 ppg.
RECRUITING AROUND THE WORLD
Harada and the staff have gone the extra mile in their recruiting as they bring in Amiee Book, a freshman from Nelson, New Zealand. She is the second Titan from out of the country in the last decade.
STUDENT FIRST
Sophomore Carolyn Gill was accepted into the National Society of Collegiate Scholars in October. The NSCS is an honors organization that recoginizes and elevates high achieving students.
HARD WORK PAYS OFF
Senior Mia Gallo joined the team as a walk-on her sophomore year. She stayed on the team as a walk-on last year for her junior season. This year, her hard work and dedication paid off as she was awarded a scholarship from coach Harada.
TITANS vs. THE PAC-12
The matchup against Washington will be the first time Fullerton faces a PAC-12 team since they played Arizona State in 2013. The TItans lost that game and are 56-75 all-time against the conference.
THE EXHIBITION
The Titans took in their first game action last week with an exhibition against Concordia University. Fullerton came out with a 69-54 victory shooting 42.5% from the field. Daeja Smith led the way with 25 points and 10 rebounds while Hannah Thompson had 13 points and Jade Vega put up 12.
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.
FOLLOW THE TITANS!
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).