Jan. 20, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

FULLERTON, CA - The Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team (6-9 overall, 3-2 in the Big West Conference) looks to rebound from its second straight conference weekend split this week with a pair of contests at Titan Gym to kick off a brief three-game homestand. The Titans welcome Cal State Northridge to Orange County on Wednesday (Jan. 21) for a 7 p.m. tip in their lone Big West game of the week before closing out the non-conference portion of their schedule on Saturday (Jan. 24) at 5 p.m. against Cal State Bakersfield.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?: Both of this week's contests will be broadcast live over the Internet at FullertonTitans.com. Patrick Alog will have the call live for both contests from Titan Gym.

I SEE YOU: For the third consecutive season, video for all of Cal State Fullerton's home women's basketball games and selected road contests will be streamed live over the Internet (on a subscription basis) thanks to Big West TV. For a monthly subscription of \$9.95 or an annual subscription of \$79.95, fans can catch all the exclusive action from Titan Gym and points beyond. For more information, please log on to www.BigWest.org/TV.

SCOUTING THE MATADORS: Cal State Northridge enters the week with a 4-13 overall record and a 1-3 mark in Big West Conference play... the Matadors snapped a three-game losing streak last weekend with an overtime win over Long Beach State... Northridge, which was 0-28 overall last season, has split its last six games (3-3), also posting wins over Eastern Washington and Columbia in that stretch... Whitney Ligon leads the team offensively, averaging 11.9 points per game to stand as the only Matador in double figures... she leads the Big West Conference at 17.0 ppg in four conference contests thus far this season.

THE SERIES: Cal State Fullerton leads the all-time series with Cal State Northridge, 31-5, having won the last five meetings dating back to the 2006-07 season... The Titans swept the season series last season, winning 59-55 at home and claiming a 55-45 victory in Northridge... Fullerton is 13-2 all-time against Northridge on its home floor, having won the last three straight and six of the last seven.

SCOUTING THE ROADRUNNERS: Cal State Bakersfield enters the week with a 12-7 overall record, but just a 4-3 mark away from home... Christine Kepenekian leads a trio of Roadrunners in double figures, pacing the team with 18.1 ppg and a team-best 8.7 rpg... Kelley Tarver (14.6 ppg) and Phynique Allen (11.3 ppg) are also in double figures while two other players, Krista Arase and Katie Williams, are averaging 9.8 and 9.5 ppg, respectively, to help CSUB to a season average of 73.6 ppg as a team.

THE SERIES: The series between Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Bakersfield is tied at 1-1 with each team winning on the other's home floor over the past two seasons... The Titans posted a 77-75 victory last season in Bakersfield while the Roadrunners defeated the Titans, 69-61, during the 2006-07 campaign.

THOMAS MOVES UP SCORING LIST...: A big weekend in Northern California has senior Toni Thomas moving up a pair of big career lists, planting herself among some of the biggest names in Cal State Fullerton women's basketball history. With her 31 points over the weekend, Thomas moved past both Nancy Dunkle (1,559) and Nancy Ratliff (1,580) into fourth place on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,588 career points. She'll need a big finish to her senior season to move into the top three, needing 143 points over the last 12 regular season games (11.9 ppg) to tie Robin Holmes (1,731) for third all-time and 146 to match Shayla Bradshaw (1,734) for second place.

AND REBOUNDING AS WELL...: Thomas also accumulated 15 rebounds on the weekend against UC Davis and Pacific to give her 763 for her career, moving her past Nancy Dunkle for third place all time - just 42 boards shy of Terri Withers (805) for second place behind career leader Eugenia Miller-Rycraw (1,162).

MIGHTY MEGAN: Cal State Fullerton freshman Megan Richardson has herself a "player of the week"-type trip to Northern California, leading the team in scoring and averaging 19.5 ppg in games against UC Davis and Pacific. Richardson began the weekend by tying her career high with 18 points in the Titans' win over the Aggies before following that up with a new career standard, scoring 21 points in a narrow loss to the Tigers. For the weekend, Richardson shot 54 percent (15-for-28) from the floor, including 5-of-10 from three-point range.

SHE'S (STILL) KIND OF A BIG (WEST) DEAL: Sophomore Lyndsey Grove has stepped up her game since the start of the Big West Conference season, ranking among the league leaders in several different categories - and besting her overall season averages in each. The sophomore stands tied for 15th in scoring (12.0 ppg) and eighth in rebounding (6.4 rpg) while leading the league in field goal percentage (.595) through five conference contests.

THOMAS CONTINUES STREAKING: Thomas hasn't missed a beat since missing the first three games of her collegiate career due to injury, scoring in double digits in five of the team's last six games and averaging 14.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in that span. Thomas, who ranks fourth overall in the league in scoring entering the week at 13.5 ppg, is shooting .484 (31-for-64) from the field and .875 (21-for-24) from the free throw line over the last six games.

LET'S "GROVE" TONIGHT: Since the Titans rang in the New Year on Dec. 30 against Columbia, sophomore Lyndsey Grove has provided the Titans with a potent offensive threat in the paint, averaging 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game over her last six contests, shooting a spectacular 61 percent (31-for51) from the field and an almost perfect 94 percent (15-for-16) from the free throw line.

WE'RE HERE TO HELP: Cal State Fullerton posted a season-high 20 assists in last week's win over UC Davis - the most for the Titans since posting 21 assists in a win over the Aggies on March 1, 2007.

BIG WINS: Thanks to its 12-point victory over UC Davis, Cal State Fullerton has now posted double-digit victories in five of its six wins this season, posting an average margin of victory of 14.3 ppg in those contests. The only non double-digit win of the season for the Titans was a three-point, 60-57, victory on the road at San Francisco on Dec. 10.

WORKIN' ON THEIR NIGHT MOVES: Cal State Fullerton is 5-3 this season in night games, but has struggled this year when the sun is shining - posting just a 1-6 record in six games played before 6 p.m., having lost three of the last four. While averaging almost the same amount scoring wise from night to day (64.8 ppg to 64.1 ppg, respectively), the Titans are shooting much better "under the lights," shooting .394 (188-for-477) from the floor at night to just .367 overall (170-for-463), and .336 (40-for-119) from three-point range to .275 (41-for-149) beyond the arc in day games.

FOUR-PACK: Cal State Fullerton featured a balanced scoring attack in its victory over UC Davis last week, finishing with four players in double figures in the Titans' 71-59 win. It marked the third time this season that Fullerton has had four-or-more players in double figures this season (and the first since posting five double-digit scorers against Saint Mary's on Nov. 21) as the Titans improved to 2-1 in those games.

CLASH OF OFFENSES: Wednesday night's game between the Titans and Matadors will feature the league's top two offenses since the start of conference play as Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton stand 1-2, respectively, in scoring offense at 68.5 ppg and 66.8 ppg entering this week's games. The Matadors also feature the league's third-best shooting offense in conference games (.406) and the best three-point shooting percentage (.429) through four conference contests this season.

Lauren Chow - THE GUARD THAT KEEPS ON GIVING: Sophomore Lauren Chow enters the week as one of the league's top playmakers, ranking third in the league with 3.93 assists per game and fourth with 59 assists overall this season. She has also done well to take care of the ball herself, leading the league in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.59 (59 assists to 37 turnovers) - one of only four conference regulars to have more assists than miscues thus far this season. Chow averaged 6.50 assists per game this past weekend in Northern California, including setting a new career high with seven helpers against UC Davis, and she is averaging 4.67 apg (28 assists overall) over her last six contests.

FOR DESSERT?: It's safe to say a basketball turnover probably wouldn't taste very good as a meal-ender, but on the court, it has been a sweet statistic for the Titans. Fullerton's defense has forced its opponents into 327 turnovers on the season (a league best 21.8 per game), turning them into 303 points for the "good gals." The Titans have forced 20-or-more turnovers in 10 of their 15 contests this season with a pair of 19-turnover games to boot. On the other hand, the Titans have also done a great job of taking care of the ball themselves, committing only 246 turnovers (best in the Big West) and ranking first in the league in turnover margin (+5.40) while notching 158 steals to rank first overall and tops in the league with 10.53 spg.

SULTAN OF STEAL: Keep your eye on the ball or senior Daviyonne Weathersby just might make it disappear. Weathersby enters this week's games ranked second in the Big West Conference with 2.21 steals per game and fifth overall with 31 swipes on the year. She has a steal in every game she has appeared in but one in 2008-09, including a season-high four steals in the season opener against Santa Clara, and is averaging 2.67 steals per game over her last six contests.