March 1, 2007
FULLERTON, CA - Cal State Fullerton senior Charlee Underwood notched a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds while sophomore Toni Thomas added 20 more points as the Titans handed visiting UC Davis a 62-53 defeat on Thursday night in the regular season finale at Titan Gym.
The win snaps a three-game losing streak for Fullerton as it improved to 14-15 overall heading into next week's Big West Conference women's basketball tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Titans will be the No. 5 seed and play at noon on Wednesday (March 7) against an opponent yet to be determined.
The Aggies fell to 13-15 overall.
Underwood led the "Senior Night" effort with her sixth double-double of the season, hitting on 8-of-12 from the floor and playing in all 40 minutes for the sixth time this season.
Thomas, who extended her double-digit scoring streak to 18 consecutive games, hit on 9-of-11 from the floor and added six rebounds as she became the first Titan to reach 500 points in a single season since Koko Lahanas led the nation in scoring with 778 points (26.8 ppg) in 1994-95.
Fullerton jumped out to the quick advantage and led by as many as seven points in the first half before UC Davis turned up the heat, exploding for a 15-4 run to take their first lead of the game with just under six minutes to play.
The Titans would rally to tie the game at 23-23 with 3:07 remaining, but the Aggies scored six of the final nine points in the period to lead, 29-26, at the break.
That would be the last UC Davis would see of the lead as Cal State Fullerton opened the second half with a 17-2 run over the first six-plus minutes and the Titans never looked back. Fullerton led by as many as 18 points midway through the half and the Aggies' last ditch comeback effort could get them no closer than eight points with just over a minute to play.
UC Davis was led offensively off the bench by Haylee Donaghe's 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting. She led two other teammates in double figures as Heather Bates scored 13 points and Anna Harp added 11 more.
Fullerton shot just over 45 percent from the floor, including a 52 percent clip during its second half comeback. The Aggies shot 44 percent and were outrebounded by a 41-22 count.