FULLERTON, Calif. - On a night Cal State Fullerton celebrated their 50th anniversary, the women's basketball team came out victorious with a 72-68 win over Hawaii. They have now won seven of their last eight games and start Big West play 1-0.
"Really proud of the way we dug deep tonight to pull out this win," said head coach Jeff Harada. "We knew Hawaii was a lot better than their record and we definitely had to earn it tonight. Different players made plays throughout the game and that's what a team is all about. Some of those plays don't even show up in the stat sheet but without them we may not have won the game. We continue to learn how to win close games and it shows a lot of growth and confidence in our players. Give them a ton of credit for that."
The main headline from Fullerton's scoring Saturday night was Daeja Smith's 13 points putting her at 1,001 for her career. She is just the 24th athlete in program history to surpass the 1,000-point mark.
With this bucket, Daeja Smith has joined the 1,000-point club! She is just the 24th in program history to reach the mark!
— Titans Women's Basketball (@FullertonWBB) January 6, 2019
Congratulations @daej32! #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/BzLfk7YqvA
Raina Perez had her second 20-point outing of the season with a team-high 23 points on 50% shooting from the field. Jade Vega filled out the stat sheet nicely with 17 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Smith also had eight rebounds and three blocks to go along with her 13 points, while Amiee Book was the final Titan in double-figures with 11 points.
It was a battle all night long between the two teams, but Fullerton kept the lead for majority of the game. Both teams were scorching hot in the second quarter, shooting well over 50% from the field. Ultimately Perez's 15 first half points led the Titans to a six-point lead into the half.
The fourth quarter did not start well for the Titans as Hawaii opened it up with a 9-0 run to claim a five-point lead. However, a big three from Book ended the run and shifted the momentum back in favor of Fullerton.
Amiee hits the tri-fecta! pic.twitter.com/pbaCfEUZRa
— Titans Women's Basketball (@FullertonWBB) January 6, 2019
The New Zealand native scored eight of her 11 points in the final quarter leading the Titans to the 72-68 victory and giving them a 1-0 start in Big West play.
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