FULLERTON, Calif.—With six seconds left in regulation, Cal State Fullerton's Alex Thomas had a lay-up attempt fall right off the rim, as Northern Arizona was able to escape Titan Gym with 55-54 win over the Titans Friday night.
Sophomore forward Kathleen Iwuoha racked up a career-high 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting to lead the Titans in scoring. Freshman guard Annie Park also chipped in with a personal best nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Northern Arizona guard Amy Patton entered the contest tonight as the NCAA's second-leading scorer, and she lead her team once again with 14 points and eight rebounds. Paige Haynes and Aubrey Davis also combined to put in 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting for the Lumberjacks.
Cal State Fullerton (2-5) earned a 1-0 lead on an Iwuoha free throw less than a minute into the game, but trailed for the majority of the first half, as the Titans connected on just two of their first 11 field goal attempts. Northern Arizona conversely hit seven of their first nine attempts during that span, resulting in a 14-9 NAU lead with 11:59 remaining in the first half.
The Titans would grind their way back into the contest though, after Iwouha scored on two consecutive possessions to tie things up at 16-16 with 9:02 remaining.
The Lumberjacks (1-6) continued to hold a slight lead, riding the hot shooting Patton and Haynes, as the two combined to score 16 first half points on 6-of-12 shooting.
Fullerton never fell behind by more than six points throughout the first half, and only trailed 26-25 at the intermission, riding Iwouha's team-high eight points.
The Titans and Lumberjacks continued their see-saw battle, as Fullerton's biggest lead was only four points, after Tailer Butler hit a mid-range jumper with 13:51 left to play to put the Titans up 40-36.
The two squads would swap leads eight times in the second half, with no team going up by more than three points the rest of the way.
Iwouha drained a jumper with 3:43 left to play to put Fullerton up 52-50, but that was the last lead the Titans would get, as they would only knock down one more field goal the rest of the contest.
Fullerton connected on just 28 percent of its field goals for the game and shot a season-low 55 percent from the free throw line, making just 10-of-18 attempts.
The Titans will now hit the road again and begin their second three-game road trip of the season, as they'll head to Albuquerque to take on the New Mexico Lobos Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Game Notes: Cal State Fullerton has dropped it's last three games by a combined eight points…The loss snapped a four-game home win streak going back to last season…Titans fall to 0-5 all-time vs. Northern Arizona