Jan. 17, 2012
FULLERTON, CA -
Complete Weekly Release - at UC Irvine/at UC Riverside
THIS WEEK...
Cal State Fullerton at UC Irvine
Jan. 18, 2012 | 7 p.m.
Bren Events Center (5,000)
Coverage: Live Audio | Live Video
Cal State Fullerton at UC Riverside
Jan. 21, 2012 | 5 p.m.
Student Recreation Center (2,750)
Coverage: Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video
TIP-OFF: Following its fifth win in the last eight games over the weekend, the Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team (8-8 overall, 1-3 in the Big West Conference) returns to league play this week to close out a three-game road swing. The Titans travel to third-place UC Irvine on Wednesday night (Jan. 18) at 7 p.m. before heading to the Inland Empire for a Saturday evening tilt (Jan. 21) with last-place UC Riverside at 5 p.m.
NEW LOOK BIG WEST: The Big West Conference Board of Directors announced on Dec. 12, 2011, that San Diego State will return as the conference's 11th member effective July 1, 2013. The Aztecs, whose women's teams were members of the league from 1985-90, were an original member of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association from 1969-78, and will join Hawaii as the league's "newest" members. The Warriors, whose women's programs were part of the Big West from 1984-96, were introduced as the 10th member of the league on Dec. 10, 2010, and will officially compete as a member of the Big West in July of 2012.
BE A FOLLOWER: Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (CSUF.Athletics), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) and Vimeo.com (vimeo.com/fullertontitans). In addition, the women's basketball team has established its own official Facebook fan page, just search for Cal State Fullerton Women's Basketball.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? GOOD!: Thanks to a partnership with Arizona-based Stretch Internet, select Cal State Fullerton women's basketball contests will be broadcast live over the Internet at FullertonTitans.com. To access the links, click on the headphones icon in the upper right-hand corner of FullertonTitans.com.
I SEE YOU: For the sixth consecutive season, live streaming video for all of Cal State Fullerton's home regular season contests and selected road games will be available (on a subscription basis) live over the Internet courtesy the Big West TV platform. For a monthly subscription of \$9.95 or an annual subscription of \$79.95, fans can catch all the exclusive action from the comfort of their home computers. For more information, please visit www.BigWest.org/TV or access the video player at www.fansonly.com/schools/bigw/allaccess/index.html.
I NEED STATS, STAT!: For the third consecutive season, Cal State Fullerton men's and women's basketball will feature live stats via CBS College Sports' Gametracker interface for all of the Titans' home games as well as select road contests. Links will be available on both the men and women's basketball schedule pages at FullertonTitans.com.
UC IRVINE BRIEFLY: The Anteaters enter the week with an 8-10 overall record and a 4-2 mark in Big West Conference play for third place... UC Irvine has gutted out four straight wins by fewer than 10 points after losing five-in-a-row... Kassandra McCalister, a transfer from Oregon State and the reigning conferene player of the week, leads the offense at 11.5 ppg while shooting .394 from the field... junior Jazmyne White is second on the team in scoring (9.8 ppg) and leads the team in rebounding (6.0 rpg) while shooting a robust .516 from the field... the Anteaters are averaging 64.9 ppg and shooting .407 from the floor while opponents are averaging 67.9 ppg and shooting .430 from the field.
UC RIVERSIDE BRIEFLY: After losing the majority of their line up from a season ago, the Highlanders have struggled to a 2-15 overall record and are winless in conference play at 0-6 this season heading into a non-conference clash with CSU Bakersfield on Wednesday (Jan. 18)... UC Riverside has lost eight straight since a 70-57 victory at Idaho on Dec. 15 and are just 1-4 in five home games after playing 12 of its 17 contests on the road this season... TreShonti Nottingham leads the offense with 14.1 ppg, shooting .399 from the floor and leading the team with 50 steals (3.33 spg)... Natasha Hadley (12.2 ppg) is also in double figures while Jessica Ogunnorin (6.9 rpg) paces the team on the boards.
SERIES NOTES: UC Irvine narrowly leads the all-time series with Cal State Fullerton, 32-31, having won two straight in the series after the Titans had won nine of 11... Fullerton has lost its last three-straight trips to the Bren Center dating back to 2009, last posting a win in Irvine on Jan. 4, 2008 (69-66), and is 12-18 all-time on UCI's home floor... UC Riverside also leads the all-time series with Cal State Fullerton by a 21-18 count, having won four straight (and 10 of 12 overall since 2007) dating to a 78-60 Titan win on Jan. 9, 2010... Fullerton has lost three straight in the Inland Empire since a 62-54 triumph on Jan. 23, 2008... the Titans are just 8-9 all-time at UCR... the Highlanders are 18-6 against the Titans (including 3-1 in conference tournament) since joining the Big West Conference in 2002.
OLIVIER FILLS IT UP: Cal State Fullerton dominated the paint against a hobbled CSU Bakersfield squad and redshirt sophomore Mya Olivier was the focal point, producing career highs with 21 points and 17 rebounds while hitting 10-of-15 (.667) from the floor in the Titans' nine-point win. For Olivier, who nearly outrebounded the entire Roadrunner team (23 overall for the game), it was her fourth double-double of the season (seventh career) and the first career 20-point performance for the Laguna Beach native, joining Megan Richardson and Lauren Chow as active Titans who have reached the 20-point plateau in their careers. Olivier has reached double figures in points in each of her last four games, averaging 14.8 ppg and 11.3 rpg during that stretch while shooting 24-for-38 (.632) from the floor.
KAT CATCHES ROADRUNNERS NAPPING: Freshman Kathleen Iwuoha joined teammate Mya Olivier in beating up Bakersfield inside, collecting her first career double-double with 10 points (5-of-8 from the floor) and 10 rebounds in Fullerton's nine-point win. For Iwuoha, it was her second double-digit scoring performance in the last three games (and her fourth overall this season) while the 10 boards were a career high, surpassing her nine rebounds grabbed against Cal Poly on Jan. 5.
DOUBLE DOUBLE-DOUBLE: No, you're not seeing triple. Mya Olivier and Kathleen Iwuoha's double-doubles against Bakersfield last weekend marked the first time that two Titans posted a double-double in the same game since Toni Thomas (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Lyndsey Grove (12 points, 11 rebounds) accomplished the feat against UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 10, 2009.
IN-N-OUT WOULD BE PROUD: Olivier's four double-doubles this season are the most for a Titan since Jasmine Scott had four (including a triple-double) during the 2009-10 senior season.
THIS NOTE BROUGHT TO YOU BY WINDEX: Cal State Fullerton's 56 rebounds against Bakersfield tied a season-high for the Titans, matching their output in their season-opening win over Sacramento State on Nov. 11 while Fullerton's 27 offensive boards against the Roadrunners tied a season high set at Arizona State on Dec. 6. The 56 rebounds were the most since Fullerton grabbed 58 boards in a 90-68 win against the Hornets on Nov. 15, 2009, while the 27 offensive rebounds were the most since the Titans grabbed 28 against Arizona on Nov. 26, 1993.
CHOW TIME: Mired in an offensive slump for most of the season, redshirt senior Lauren Chow found her stroke last weekend in Bakersfield, tying a season high with 15 points while matching her career high with seven rebounds to go with six assists and a trio of steals. It marked only the fourth time this season that Chow has reached double figures in points and the first since she had 10 points in a win over Nevada on Dec. 10 at Titan Gym.
I'M HERE TO HELP: Redshirt senior Lauren Chow inched her way up the school's career assist list last week, as her six helpers against Bakersfield upped her total to 367 career assists, good for No. 6 on the all-time list and just 11 helpers shy of Audrey Taylor, who holds down the No. 5 spot with 378 helpers from 2002-07.
\#WINNING: Fullerton's eight wins this season are just one shy of last season's total when the Titans finished 9-21 overall. Not to jinx anything, but two more victories would give Fullerton double-digit wins for the second time in three seasons under Head Coach Marcia Foster and its sixth such season in the last seven years. In addition, the Titans' eight wins through their first 16 contests are the most since they finished 8-8 through their first 16 games in 2009-10 when they won 15 games overall in Coach Foster's first season at the helm.
ROAD WARRIORS: Playing the hand they were dealt with nine of their first 16 games this season on the road, the Titans have performed well, going 5-4 away from home thus far and bettering last season's mark when they finished just 3-14 in road contests. Fullerton's win at Bakersfield last weekend gave the Titans their most wins away from Titan Gym since 2009-10 (5-10) and a sixth road victory this weekend would be the most for a Fullerton squad since the 1990-91 NCAA Tournament-bound team finished 9-6 away from the friendly confines.
ALL GO, NO QUIT: Senior Megan Richardson made her 100th consecutive start with the Titans' opening tip against Cal Poly on Jan. 5 and has started 102 consecutive games dating back to her freshman season. The Manhattan Beach native has not missed a start since coming off the bench on Dec. 4, 2008, against No. 16 Vanderbilt and has not missed a single one of the program's 108 possible contests overall dating to the 2008-09 campaign, starting a total of 103 of those games.
ON A ROLL (HOLD THE MAYO): Richardson has reached double figures in each of her last eight games (including four 20-point performances), entering this week's contest averaging 18.1 ppg and 3.6 rpg over than span while shooting .461 (47-for-102) from the field and .457 (16-for-35) from three-point range.
"300": A perfect score in bowling, and a possible milestone in scoring for Megan Richardson this season. With just 33 more points this season, the senior from Manhattan Beach will become only the fourth player in school history to reach 300 points in all four of her collegiate seasons as a Titan, joining Robin Holmes (1982-86), Shayla Bradshaw (1992-96), and Toni Thomas (2005-09). Looking ahead in our crystal ball, should Richardson score 133 more points, she would join Bradshaw and All-Americans Genia Miller (1987-91) and Nancy Ratliff (1980-83) as the only Fullerton players to reach 400 points in three-straight seasons.
DOUBLE-DIGIT DOMINATION: You know the old saying, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes?" We'd like to add a third -- Megan Richardson and double-digit points. The Titans spectacular scoring guard has reached double digits in points in 79 of her 108 career games (73 percent), including 25 career 20-point contests and a 33-point effort against Cal Poly on Jan. 13, 2011. She is one of only three active Fullerton players with at least 10 career double-digit games (Lauren Chow and Mya Olivier) and is one of three active Titans who have reached 20 points in their collegiate careers (Chow and Olivier).
CHOW DIALS LONG DISTANCE FOR MILESTONE: Belated congratulations for the Titans' sharpshooting senior, who hit career three-pointer No. 200 on Dec. 10 against Nevada, making her only the eighth player in the history of the Big West Conference to reach the mark and break into the league's career top-10 list. Chow already holds the school record in that category, but will need to really heat up to match Pacific's Selena Ho for the league's career mark after the Tigers' guard finished with 271 career made three's from 1998-2002. Until then, she needs only four more trey's to move past UNLV's Gwynn Hobbs, who hit 212 career three-pointers from 1991-95, for No. 7 on the all-time list.
DE-FENSE (CLAP, CLAP)... DE-FENSE (CLAP, CLAP): Fullerton's defense has been up to the challenge thus far in 2011-12 after finishing at or near the bottom in numerous defensive categories a season ago. The Titans, who ranked 8th in scoring defense (71.7 ppg), 9th in field goal percentage defense (.432), and 8th in rebounding defense (41.8 rpg), last season while leading the league in three-point defense (.301), stand among the top four in the Big West entering the week in all four of those same categories. Fullerton has allowed the second-fewest points per game (61.7 ppg), stands third in field goal percentage defense (.385), and is second in three-point defense (.286), while standing third in rebounding defense (39.1 rpg).