SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.—Molly Schlemer poured in 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Jonae Ervin chipped in with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting, as Cal Poly shot 57 percent for the game and raced past Cal State Fullerton, 78-40 Thursday night at Mott Athletics Center.
For the Titans (7-13, 3-5 Big West) it's now their fourth consecutive defeat overall and their ninth straight loss in San Luis Obispo going back to Jan. 27, 2005. On the other hand, the Mustangs (11-8, 5-3 Big West) snap what was a brief two-game losing skid.
Fullerton failed to record a player in double-figures for just the third time this season, as Annie Park led the team in scoring with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, including knocking down two three-balls. The eight points is the least amount a Titan scoring leader has recorded this season.
The Titans and Mustangs each came out with good energy to start the game, as both teams traded bucket after bucket. In fact, Kathleen Iwuoha scored an easy lay-up with 12:47 left in the first half to give Fullerton a 10-8 lead.
And while the Titans continued to keep things close for most of the first half, that was the last lead they saw, as Cal Poly pounded the ball inside to fuel a 13-4 run over a five-plus minute span, to give the Mustangs a 23-14 lead with seven minutes to play in the half.
Fullerton had an uncharacteristic 13 first-half turnovers, which directly led to 17 of Cal Poly's 33 first half points. Despite the sloppy play, the Titans still found themselves in the game, down just 33-24 at intermission.
However, things started to unravel in the second half, and unravel fast, as Cal Poly exploded on a 16-4 run over the first six-plus minutes of the half to open a up a commanding 49-28 advantage with 13:07 left to play.
The Mustangs built their lead to as high as 39 points, as they went 19-of-29 from the field for 65.5 percent shooting in the second half. Cal Poly also outscored the Titans 46-18 in the paint for the ball game.
The Titans now head to UC Santa Barbara where they'll try to snap out of their four-game funk and snap a 39-game losing streak to the Gauchos, Saturday at 2 p.m.