Boise, Idaho- Trailing by two points with 11.7 seconds remaining, Cal State Fullerton had a chance to tie or take the lead, but failed to attempt a shot in the final possession and fell short 66-64 to Boise State Sunday afternoon at Taco Bell Arena.
With the Titans trailing for most of the second half, junior guard Chante Miles brought the Titans within one, 65-64, after hitting a pair of free throws with 26.8 seconds remaining. After fouling Tonishia Childress, the freshman guard converted on one of two attempts from the charity stripe to give the Broncos a two point lead. Fullerton (3-9) had a chance to tie the game, but the Titans were unable to put up a shot attempt as Hailey King lost possession of the ball giving Boise State (5-6) the victory.
Playing majority of the game in foul trouble Miles led the Titans in scoring, pouring in 18 points, while Kathleen Iwuoha recorded her first double double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds. King also added 12 points in the loss.
Boise State's Miquelle Askew led all scorers with 23 points and 13 rebounds. In her first game of the season, junior guard Deanna Weaver added 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting, while freshman guard Yaiza Rodriguez scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds.
The Titans got off to a slow start to begin the game as Fullerton failed to record a field goal over the first three minutes until Samantha Logan's mid-range jumper with 16:45 remaining put the Titans on the board, 4-2.
Over the next eight minutes of the game a 16-6 run, which was fueled by five points from Miles, put Fullerton ahead 18-12 with 7:35 left in the first half. The Titans would lead by as many as seven points in the half, but the Broncos ended the half on a 12-4 run to head into intermission leading 29-27.
With the slow start, as a team Cal State Fullerton had a .296 shooting percentage (8-of-27), while the Broncos knocked down 23 percent (11-of-26) of their opportunities. Miles added eight first half points, while Iwuoha contributed six points and six rebounds.
Fullerton opened the second half on a 6-1 run to take a three-point, 33-30 lead over the Broncos. However, the Broncos evened the score at 35 after a Deanna Weaver three-pointer with 16:25 remaining and continued a 12-4 run to stretch their lead to as many as six, 42-37.
The Titans battled with the Broncos and with 8:39 Fullerton tied the game at 49 after an Alex Thomas basket. With the game tied at 49, a 7-2 Boise State run quickly extended their lead to 56-51, but the Titans quickly answered to tie the game at 56 with fewer than five minutes to play.
The Titans grabbed a 62-61 lead after a Miles layup, but Rodriguez knocked down a three pointer with 1:33 to put Broncos up 64-62. Keiahanna Engel extended the Bronco lead to three after converting a free throw.
The Titans finished the day shooting 36 percent from the field and 23 percent from three-point range. Boise State shot 41 percent from the floor and 32 percent from behind the arc. Fullerton outrebounded the Broncos 37-36.
Cal State Fullerton ends the non-conference portion of it schedule with a game at Titan Gym on Friday, Jan. 3 versus Denver at 7 p.m. The Titans open Big West play on the road at UC Riverside on Thursday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.
Notes: Today's meeting was the seventh meeting all-time between the two schools and the first since 2001 when Boise State was part of the Big West Conference… Boise State and Fullerton were once league rivals for five years (1996-2001) before the Broncos left for the Western Athletic Conference… the Titans are now 0-7 all-time against the Broncos….Fullerton is now 0-4 all-time playing in Boise…the Titans move to 49-70 all-time against opponents from the Mountain West Conference and are now 0-2 this season against MWC foes, previously loss to Fresno State 68-57 on Nov. 16 at Titan Gym…Chante Miles has now scored double digit scoring figures in 11 of 12 games this season…the Titans are now 1-4 on the road this season…Kathleen Iwuoha knocked down a career high seven free throws, she had a previous high of five free throws made versus UC Irvine on Jan. 18, 2012…Iwuoha records her first double double of the season and the third of the season for the Titans (Logan twice).