March 10, 2010
ANAHEIM, CA -
TIP-OFF: The Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team (15-16 overall) continues play in the 2010 Big West Conference Women's Basketball Tournament on Thursday afternoon against third-seeded UC Riverside (14-15, 11-5) at 12 p.m. at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif.
THE SERIES: The all-time series between the two schools is tied, 18-18, with the teams splitting the two regular season meetings in 2010... Fullerton posted a 78-60 victory over Riverside on Jan. 9 at Titan Gym en route to a 4-0 start in conference play... the Highlanders defeated the Titans, 53-51, on a fall-away basket by Alyssa Morris with two seconds remaining at the Student Rec Center in Riverside on Feb. 6... UCR has won five of the last six meetings between the two schools, including four straight from Feb. 23, 2008-Feb. 26, 2009.
IN THE BIG WEST TOURNEY: Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside have met in the Big West Conference Tournament three times since the Highlanders joined in the conference in 2001-02: the Titans won the first meeting, 71-56, in 2004 while the Highlanders have won the last two straight by the scores of 63-37 in 2005 and 59-47 in 2008.
NOTABLE NUGGETS:
Fullerton's win on Wednesday improved the Titans to 7-9 (.438) all-time in Big West Tournament games played at the Anaheim Convention Center.
The victory gave the Titans at least one victory in the conference tournament for the fourth consecutive season. Fullerton has now advanced to the quarterfinals twice (2008 and 2010) and gained the semifinals twice (2007 and 2009) in that span.
The 89 points scored against UC Irvine in the tournament opener was the second-highest total for the Titans this season, falling just one point short of their season high of 90 points scored against Sacramento State on Nov. 15.
The 32 free throws made against UC Irvine in the tournament opener tied a school record last accomplished against San Francisco on Dec. 18, 2006, in a 72-69 Fullerton victory. The 38 attempts against the Anteaters were eight shy of the school mark of 46 set against Arizona State in 1994. Both marks from Wednesday's UCI game shattered the Titans' previous Big West Tournament bests of 23 makes (four times) and 31 attempts (vs. New Mexico State, 3/7/91).
The 50 rebounds against UC Irvine was a school record in Big West Conference Tournament play and marked the fourth time this season the Titans have grabbed at least 50 rebounds, including a season-high 58 at Sacramento State on Nov. 15.
Junior Lyndsey Grove has reached the 20-point plateau in each of her last two games, including a career-high 26 points against UC Irvine in the Titans tournament opener on Wednesday. Grove's previous career best was 24 points set earlier this year on the road in a loss at Tulsa.
Grove also finished 10-for-10 at the line against the Anteaters - the second time this season that she has accomplished that feat (vs. Portland State on Nov. 28, 2009). It is only the 11th time in school history that has happened with a minimum of 10 attempts. The school record is 15-for-15 by India McDaniel set against San Francisco in 2006.
Senior Jasmine Scott recorded her team-best fourth double-double of the season against UC Irvine in the tournament opener, helping the Titans improve to 6-1 this season when a Fullerton player accomplishes that feat.
After scoring no more than two points in five previous appearances, freshman center Lauren Bushong set career highs with seven points and five rebounds in a win over Pacific and added six points and four rebounds against UC Irvine in the Titans' tournament opener. Averaging just 1.4 ppg and 1.4 rpg coming into the tournament, Bushong is averaging 4.3 ppg and 3.3 rpg over her last three contests and is 5-of-7 (.714) from the field in that stretch.
IN THE MEDIA ROOM...
Quotes from Cal State Fullerton coaches and student-athletes following Wednesday's 89-76 win over UC Irvine at the Big West Conference Tournament.
Head Coach Marcia Foster
"UC Irvine plays the same way as their coach played the game and I hope my teams become known for that type of toughness. It's a toughness that if you score on us, we'll come back and score on you."
On the halftime lead... "At 45-35, I said if we doubled our score, we'd be in good shape."
On the style of play... "We never stop running. We're at our best when we run and share the ball. I'd rather have not given up 76 points to an opponent though."
Junior Lyndsey Grove
"It feels good when scoring comes this easy. It makes playing defense easier, as well. It's hard to play when you're not scoring. It feels good to run the floor and get easy baskets and not let things go into a halfcourt game."