Titans Look to Cure Road Ills This Week

Jan. 18, 2011

FULLERTON -

THIS WEEK...
Cal State Fullerton at Long Beach State
Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011
7 p.m.
Walter Pyramid (4,200) | Long Beach, CA
Gametracker | Live Audio | Big West TV

Cal State Fullerton at UC Santa Barbara
Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011
2 p.m.
The Thunderdome (6,000) | Santa Barbara, CA
Gametracker | Live Audio | Big West TV

TIP-OFF: With a four-game losing streak behind it, the Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team (6-12 overall, 2-4 in the Big West Conference) turns its attention to reversing its struggles on the road with a pair of league contests this week. The Titans head to archrival Long Beach State for a midweek tilt on Wednesday (Jan. 19) at 7 p.m. before traveling to the coast to take on UC Santa Barbara in a Saturday afternoon (Jan. 22) tip at 2 p.m.

BE A FOLLOWER: Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (CSUF Athletics), Twitter (@CSUFAthletics) and Vimeo.com (vimeo.com/fullertontitans). In addition, the women's basketball team has established its own official Facebook fan page (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. Both contests will be broadcast live from the road this week.

I SEE YOU: For the fifth 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 log on to BigWest.org/TV. Live video will be available for both of this weekend's games.

I NEED STATS, STAT!: For the second 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's and women's basketball schedule pages at FullertonTitans.com.

LONG BEACH STATE BRIEFLY: The 49ers enter the week with a 3-16 overall record and a 1-5 mark in Big West Conference play (9th place), playing at home for the first time since Jan. 2... Long Beach State has lost its last three straight overall since a 64-50 victory at Cal State Northridge on Jan. 5 and three-in-a-row at home dating back to a 72-62 win over Florida A&M on Dec. 19... Freshman guard Brandi Henton leads the team in scoring at 13.2 ppg and is joined in double figures by Courtney Jacob, who is averaging 12.1 ppg and a team-high 5.7 rpg... the 49ers are shooting .378 from the floor and are averaging 60.2 ppg while opponents are shooting .402 against Long Beach State and are averaging 74.6 ppg.

UC SANTA BARBARA BRIEFLY: The Gauchos enter the week at 9-8 overall and 3-2 in Big West play (three-way tie for 3rd place) and will meet Cal State Fullerton in their only game of the week... UCSB has won four of its last six, including a split of its conference contests last week with a 69-58 win at UC Irvine and an 81-48 loss at UC Riverside... Emilie Johnson is the lone Gaucho in double figures, averaging 12.1 ppg, but leads a balanced offense that features three players averaging better than nine points per contest... senior Mekia Valentine is among that trio at 9.6 ppg to go with 9.4 rpg and 67 blocks... UC Santa Barbara is shooting .421 from the floor (best in the Big West) and averaging 62.2 ppg while standing as one of the best defensive squads in the league, allowing just 60.5 ppg (2nd in the conference) and holding opponents to just .351 from the floor (1st in the league).

SERIES NOTES: Cal State Fullerton trails in the all-time series with Long Beach State, 59-30, but the Titans have won three straight in the series and seven of the last 10... Fullerton swept the season series from the 49ers in 2009-10 thanks to a 67-60 win in Long Beach and a 76-67 victory at Titan Gym - the Titans' first regular season series sweep since 1998... Fullerton is just 11-39 against Long Beach State since both have been members of the Big West Conference... the Titans are 10-29 all-time against the 49ers on the road, and 4-21 as members of the Big West, but have won in their last two straight trips... UC Santa Barbara leads the all-time series with Cal State Fullerton, 42-22, having won the last 35 consecutive meetings with the Titans in one of the nation's longest active winning streaks against a single opponent... Fullerton hasn't won in the series since a 97-86 victory in the Big West Conference Tournament in 1995 in Las Vegas... the Titans are 8-20 all-time on the road against the Gauchos, losing their last 19 consecutive trips to Santa Barbara dating back to a 50-47 victory in 1991.

ALUMNAE GAME SCHEDULED: The Cal State Fullerton women's basketball program will host an alumnae game and luncheon prior to tip-off of the Titans' Big West Conference contest against Long Beach State on Saturday, Jan. 29. The event begins at 12:30 p.m. with the luncheon to follow at approximately 1:30 p.m. Admission to the game is free, however, there is a \$5 charge for fans who wish to attend the luncheon and will be payable at the door. For more information, or to RSVP for the event, please contact Kellie Cox in the athletic department at (657) 278-7016 or via email at kelliecox@fullerton.edu.

BEHIND THE SCENES: Take an inside look at the Cal State Fullerton women's basketball program with FullertonTitansTV on Vimeo.com. Thanks to the talented eye of team photographer Matt Brown, the Cal State Fullerton sports information office will be producing several videos that give fans a chance to see the Titans like never before! To catch all the action, please visit the links below...

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL VIDEOS:
Season Preview: http://www.vimeo.com/16262349
"Cooking With Marcia & Bob": http://vimeo.com/15829621
Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure: http://vimeo.com/15331347
Katie Avila's "Everyday Champions": http://www.vimeo.com/11731995
Midseason Review/Big West Preview: http://www.vimeo.com/18109934

TITANS SIXTH AMONG BIG WEST TEAMS IN LATEST RPI RELEASE: The NCAA released its third RPI report (as of Jan. 18) and the Titans are near the middle of the Big West pack after the first two months of play at No. 259 (down 17 spots) out of 343 teams. UC Riverside (No. 87, down two spots) leads the way followed closely by UC Irvine (No. 118, down 26 spots) in second. The two are followed by UC Santa Barbara (No. 124, up 12 spots), UC Davis (No. 134, up five spots), Cal Poly (No. 180, up 36 spots), Cal State Fullerton, Pacific (No. 308, up six spots), Long Beach State (No. 313, down 11 spots), and Cal State Northridge (No. 325, up one spot).

THIRTY-SOMETHING: For junior sharpshooter Megan Richardson, 33 is the new 20. The Manhattan Beach native went off for a career-high 33 points in a loss to league-leading Cal Poly on Jan. 13, becoming the first Titan since Toni Thomas in 2007 (32 points in a loss at UTEP) to reach the 30-point plateau and accomplishing the feat for the 75th time in school history. Richardson, whose previous career high was 29 points set last season as a sophomore against San Jose State, scored the most points in a single game by a Fullerton player since Natascha Stokely netted 36 points against Long Beach State on Feb. 22, 1998.

BIG NIGHT BOOSTS RICHARDSON UP SCORING CHART: Richardson's 33 points, combined with her 14 points two nights later against Cal State Northridge, has the junior moving quickly up the career scoring charts as she now ranks No. 16 on the list with 1,081 career points. Richardson stands just 13 points away from matching Brenda Martin (1975-79) for 15th place, 16 points away from Jill Matyuch (1986-90) for 14th place, and 19 points shy of Claudette Jackson (1990-92) for No. 13 on the list.

KEEP AN EYE ON...: Senior Lyndsey Grove could quickly join her teammate Megan Richardson as 1,000-point scorers as the Placentia native enters the week with 949 career points - just 51 points shy of the milestone (4.6 ppg over the final 11 regular season contests). Junior Lauren Chow is also approaching the mark with her 839 career points, but will need to average 14.6 ppg over the final 11 regular season games to reach the milestone.

MILESTONE FOR TWO?: Should Grove get her 51 points this season, the Titans will have two players reach the 1,000 career point plateau for the first time since 1991-92 when Claudette Jackson (1990-92) and Joey Ray (1988-92) accomplished the feat. Aside from Jackson and Ray, only two other duos and a scoring trio have reached the 1,000-point mark in the same season: Genia Miller and Jill Matyuch in 1989-90, Nancy Ratliff and Marlene Kline in 1981-82, and Robin Holmes, Meg Gallagher, and Terri Withers in 1984-85.

GROVE MATCHES CAREER BEST IN VICTORY: The most consistent scorer for the Titans this season had the best offensive night of her senior season against Cal State Northridge on Jan. 15, going off for a career high-tying 26 points in Fullerton's eight-point win, matching her performance against UC Irvine in the first round of the 2010 Big West Conference Tournament. The Placentia native hit on 7-of-19 from the field and an almost-perfect 10-of-12 from the line (matching a career-best for free throws made and setting a new high for attempts) to go with six rebounds in 39 minutes. The point total was just two shy of her offensive output from her previous three games combined (28 points) as Grove hit double figures for the team-best 14th time in 18 contests this season.

FROM BENCH SPARK TO STARTING ROLE: Sophomore Simone Lutu's hard work finally paid off last week as the Carson native made her first career start against league-leading Cal Poly and she did not disappoint. Lutu played in a career-best 29 minutes against the Mustangs while also setting career bests in points (8) and rebounds (7) and is averaging 4.0 ppg and 3.0 rpg since seeing a significant jump in playing time with the start of Big West play, well above her overall averages of 2.5 ppg and 1.6 rpg.

CHOW MATCHES THREE-POINT RECORD: With her only bucket of the game against Cal State Northridge, redshirt junior Lauren Chow put her name atop yet another career category with her 164th career three-pointer made. The total ties her with Charlee Underwood (2003-07) for the top spot, giving Chow her second career record this season after she took over the three-point attempts mark from Underwood earlier this season. Of her 286 career field goals, over 57 percent have been taken from beyond the arc, including 21 of her 34 baskets made (61.8 percent) this season.

IN OTHER RECORD NEWS: Chow's 262 career assists are just 53 helpers shy of the school's top 10 list (Chris O'Sullivan - 315) and her 116 steals are 37 back of that career top 10 list (Heidi James - 153).

BUSHONG HITS DOUBLE DIGITS: Sophomore Lauren Bushong has silently been a solid contributor off the bench for the Titans this season, including notching her best scoring performance with a career-high 10 points in the win over Cal State Northridge last week. Bushong hit 2-of-4 from the field and added a career-high 6-for-8 from the line to go with five rebounds in just 11 minutes of play, reaching double figures for the first time in her brief career. Overall this season, Bushong ranks tied for second with 66 points off the bench and is shooting 51 percent from the floor (24-for-47) overall this season.

A LITTLE HELP HERE...: Fullerton's 18 assists (on 22 made shots) in its victory over Cal State Northridge were the most for the Titans since they posted 19 helpers (on 23 made) at Pepperdine on Dec. 18 and are tied for the fourth-most in a single game this season.

SLIM MARGIN: Five of the Titans' last six contests have been decided by fewer than 10 points, but Fullerton has struggled to just a 2-3 mark in those games with losses to Pacific, UC Irvine, and Cal Poly after holding respective leads of 14, six, and 14 points in those games. On the flip side, in the Titans' two victories in that span, they have come back from slim margins to claim victory, rebounding from a four-point second half deficit to defeat UC Davis and an early two-point hole to down Cal State Northridge.

IRON WOMEN: Senior Lyndsey Grove played in her 100th career game at Pepperdine on Dec. 18, joining a select group of 33 Titans - including teammate Ashley Richie, who joined the club on Dec. 4 at Bowling Green - who have appeared in at least 100 career games. Barring injury and major catastrophe, both Richie (110 games) and Grove (107 games) both have a great chance to break the current career mark held by Genia Miller with 11 regular season games remaining plus any possible conference tournament and postseason contests. Miller played in 118 games during her career from 1987-91, and her mark could be matched by Richie as soon as Feb. 17 against UC Santa Barbara at Titan Gym.

PUT ME IN COACH!: Cal State Fullerton's depth has been tested and the Titans' bench has responded on numerous occassions this season, providing the team with a much-needed spark. Fullerton's bench has outscored its counterparts in five of the last eight games and 10 times overall in 2010-11, including a season-high 37 points in a win over Sacramento State on Dec. 9 at Titan Gym. The bench has scored 30 points or more four times this season and contributed at least 20 points in six other games. Freshman Yvont'e Neal has led the charge off the bench, leading the team with 70 points in 17 games followed closely by 66 points apiece from Lauren Chow and Lauren Bushong. Overall, the Titans' bench is averaging 21.1 ppg in 18 contests this season to 20.8 ppg for the opposition - a difference of just four points overall (379-375 points).

PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES: Eat your heart out Steve Martin. Following 11 games away from the friendly confines of Titan Gym to start the 2010-11 season, Cal State Fullerton has racked up a grand total of 12,020 miles traveled during the first two months of the season. When the regular season finally wraps up in March, Fullerton will have finished the season with 13,001 miles under its belt this season - not counting any trips the Titans may have to make during the conference tournament and any subsequent postseason jaunts.

BUSHONG BLOCKS BUNCHES: Sophomore Lauren Bushong entered the team's Big West openers in Northern California with eight blocks on the season, but felt like that just wasn't enough. The second-year Yucca Valley native nearly equalled her entire season total in one game against Pacific, swatting down a career-high six shots in 13 minutes off the bench in the Titans' four-point loss to the Tigers - the most by a Fullerton player this season, tied for ninth in a single game in school history, and the most since the great Genia Miller tallied seven blocks against Long Beach State in the 1991 Big West Conference Tournament Championship game.

BLOCKS A PLENTY: The Titans ranked last in the Big West Conference in blocked shots last season with just 38 swats in 32 games, but it looks as if Cal State Fullerton is out to buck that trend in 2010-11. Through 18 games this season, the Titans have already rejected 51 shots - already 33 more than they had through 18 games in 2009-10 and the most in a single season since they swatted 71 shots in 2006-07. Fullerton, which stands seventh in the league in blocks (2.83 bpg) entering the week, is led by the twin-tower duo of senior Lauren Bushong (15) and Jenna Breite (13), who have combined for just over half of the team's total. Already this season, 12 different players have tallied a blocked shot - the most since 12 Titans finished with at least one swat during the 2008-09 campaign.

BREITE BACK ON THE BOARDS: Senior Jenna Breite has been the most consistent Titan on the boards this season, entering the week ranked eighth in the league in the category at 6.4 rpg and standing as one of only 10 players in the league to grab 100 rebounds thus far this season (116 overall). This follows-up last year's performance when the San Diego native finished the year seventh in the league in rebounding (6.0 rpg) and finished with 187 boards. Of her 303 career rebounds, over 81 percent (295) have come in the last two seasons.

THE TITANS' SWISS ARMY KNIFE: Senior Lyndsey Grove has been a "jill of all trades" this season for the Titans, providing a lift on both ends of the court for Cal State Fullerton. Grove stands second on the team and ranks seventh in the Big West in scoring entering this week (13.4 ppg) and has reached double figures in scoring in 14 of the team's 18 contests this season while also ranking sixth in the league in field goal percentage (.466), seventh in free throw percentage (.792), tied for fourth in three-point percentage (.403), and seventh in minutes (31.11 mpg), while also standing first on the team in steals (22), and third on the team in assists (40).

QUITE A 1-2 PUNCH: The Titans scoring duo of junior Megan Richardson (14.6 ppg) and senior Lyndsey Grove (13.4 ppg) is among one of the Big West Conference's top 1-2 scoring punches this season, accounting for just over 42 percent of the team's scoring (504 of 1,189 total points) and combining to average 28.0 ppg. They are one of the hardest working duo's in the Big West when it comes to sharing the scoring load, standing behind only UC Irvine's Mikah Maly-Karros and Jade Smith-Williams (who have combined to score 563 of the team's 1,131 points and are averaging a combined 33.1 ppg). Richardson and Grove rank fourth and seventh, respectively, in the Big West in scoring this week and Fullerton is one of six schools with a pair of players in the top 15 in the league in scoring.