AMES, Iowa- After trailing by only two at the half, a second half surge by the 20th ranked Iowa State Cyclones was too much for Cal State Fullerton to handle as the Cyclones defeated the Titans, 79-52, at Hilton Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
Cal State Fullerton (1-7) was led by redshirt sophomore guard Hailey King, who scored 13 points, while grabbing six rebounds. Senior Alex Thomas connected on three three-pointers to finish with 11 points and junior guard Chante Miles scored 10 points and added a team-high six assists in the loss.
Iowa State (8-0) was led by senior Hallie Christofferson, who scored a career-high 33 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Nicole Blaskowsky also finished with 16 points and Seanna Johnson added seven points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
Iowa State jumped out to an early 8-0 advantage, but the Titans went on a 6-0 run over the next four minutes to bring the Cyclones lead down to two. Fullerton would get within one, but a 10-3 run by Iowa State extended the lead back to 19-11 with 5:48 remaining in the first half.
However, the Titans would keep pace with the Cyclones as Chante Miles knocked down a three-pointer with five seconds left in the half to head into intermission down 27-25. Fullerton took a season high 23 three-pointers in the half, while connecting on six shots (6-for-23) from behind the arc.
The Cyclones and Titans came out of the half trading baskets for the first four minutes, but a 10-2 Iowa State run quickly put the Cyclones up by 12. Over the next few minutes Iowa State's lead grew to as many as 17, but Thomas and freshman Samantha Logan knocked down back-to-back three pointers to propel a 10-0 Titan run, which cut the Iowa State lead down to 7 with seven minutes left to play. The Titans would come no closer though as a 21-1 run to end the game sealed the victory for the Cyclones.
Fullerton shot 30 percent from the field for the game, while shooting 28 percent (11-for-40) on a new program high 40 three-point attempts. Iowa State shot 64 percent in the second half, to overcome a slow start in the opening period. The Cyclones outscored the Titans 30-12 in the paint and forced 15 Fullerton turnovers.
Cal State Fullerton will look to bounce back at home next Saturday, Dec. 14 as they take on the Arizona State Sun Devils at 5 p.m. at Titan Gym.
Notes: Assistant Coach Steve Fennelly coached against his dad, Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly and older brother Billy Fennelly… prior to coming to Cal State Fullerton, Steve spent the last two seasons at Iowa State as the team's video coordinator… the Titans are now 0-2 all-time against the Cyclones… Fullerton's previous meeting versus Iowa State was a 85-62 Cyclone victory on Nov. 15, 2006 in Ames, Iowa… the Titans are now 7-24 all-time against Big 12 Conference foes… this was the first contest in seven years that Fullerton has played against a Big 12 opponent… Iowa State marks the first nationally ranked opponent since the Titans played Gonzaga on Dec. 2, 2011 when the 24th ranked Bulldogs defeated Fullerton 73-60… Iowa State has now won 74 straight nonconference games at Hilton Coliseum…The Titans set a new program high for three-point attempts in a game…the previous high of 38 three-point attempts was set on November 23, 2012 versus Georgetown… Chante Miles has scored double digit points in all eight games this season.