March 12, 2008
FULLERTON, CA - Cal State Fullerton sophomore Jasmine Scott scored a career-high 22 points to lead three other Titans in double figures as the No. 6-seeded Titans advanced to the second round of the Big West Conference Women's Basketball Tournament with a 69-51 victory over No. 7-seeded Long Beach State on Wednesday afternoon at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Fullerton won its third straight game in improving to 11-18 overall and will face No. 3-seed UC Riverside in the first game of the day on Thursday afternoon (March 13) at 12 p.m.
The 49ers finished their season with a 9-19 overall record.
Scott, whose previous career high was 14 points set against San Jose State way back in the second game of the season, hit on 10-of-15 from the field and added four assists in the victory.
Junior Toni Thomas who battled flu symptoms throughout the game, finished with her fourth consecutive double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Big West Freshman of the Year Lauren Chow was also in double figures, finishing with 14 points on the day.
The margin of victory was Fullerton's largest of the year, surpassing the Titans' 15-point win over Cal Poly on Feb. 9.
The game was tight early on, neither team leading by more than five points through the first 12 minutes of the contest before Fullerton, bolstered by shooting 52 percent from the field in the period, put together a 14-4 run that gave the Titans their largest lead of the first half at 11 points with three minutes to play. The two teams then traded baskets to close out the half as Cal State Fullerton took a 38-29 into the locker room at the break.
Long Beach State whittled the lead down to just five points on two occasions in the first five minutes of the second half before the Titans turned it on.
A 10-3 run by Fullerton capped by a Scott three-pointer gave it a 12-point lead that grew to as many as 18 points with just under four minutes to play and the deficit proved to be too much for the 49ers to overcome as the Titans won back-to-back games in the Big West Tournament for the first time since the 1988-89 tournaments.
Brett Timmons led Long Beach State with 12 points and six rebounds while Karina Figueroa also finished in double figures with 10 points on the night.
Fullerton's defense forced the 49ers into 22 turnovers on the day, turning those in 30 points. The Titans, who shot 47 percent from the field for the contest, also held a slim 33-31 advantage on the boards and hit 13-of-14 from the free throw line for the game.