Box Score (PDF)
FRESNO, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team lost their final game of its season-long, six-game road trip to Fresno State, 57-52, Sunday afternoon at Save Mart Center behind Alex Sheedy's 19 points and four rebounds.
The Bulldogs, who have made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament for seven-straight seasons, also received 16 points from Alex Furr. Despite two Bulldogs scoring in double figures, the Titan defense did all they could to keep the Fresno State three-point attack off-balance. Excluding Furr's contributions Sunday afternoon, Fresno State shot 0-of-12 from deep.
Three Titans scored in double figures against the Bulldogs. Hailey King led the way with a season-high 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the three-point line. Chante Miles and Tailer Butler did their best to keep the Titans close, scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively. Butler also came down with a team-leading eight rebounds and was tied for the team-lead in assists with three.
Fullerton (3-6), who has struggled with turnovers all season, only turned the ball over to the Bulldogs once in the first half and created six turnovers on the defensive end. That advantage was tempered due to Fresno State's dominance on the boards, out rebounding CSF 25-15 in the opening half.
The first-half score accurately reflected how even the two teams played through 20 minutes, as the Titans took a 28-27 lead into the break. Fullerton shot 38 percent (12-of-32) for the half compared to 32 percent (9-of-28) shooting for the Bulldogs. Both sides struggled from deep as the Titans shot 25 percent (4-of-16) and Fresno State shot 11 percent (1-of-9).
The Bulldogs (6-3) wasted no time erasing the halftime deficit to open the second half, going on an 11-1 run to open a nine-point lead, 38-29, with 15:32 left in the game. Their lead would fluctuate throughout the second half with the Titans coming as close as three points with 41 seconds left, but the Titans were never able to find the equalizing bucket.
"I'm extremely proud of our defensive effort and execution tonight against a good Fresno State team," head coach Daron Park said. "Offensively we weren't clicking tonight and missed some shots that we typically make which ultimately cost us down the stretch. This has been a long three weeks-worth of road games and while I'm upset with the outcome of today's game, I'm pleased we finished this road swing with a 3-3 record. We now have the opportunity to take care of business at home and we are excited to be back in Titan Gym on Friday night."
King came off the Titan bench to score in double figures for the second-straight game and led the team in scoring for the first time this season. In her season-high 28 minutes on the floor, she pulled down four rebounds to add to her team-high point total.
Miles contributed 12 points to the Titan offense on Sunday, extending her streak of scoring in double figures to seven-straight games while playing the full 40 minutes for the second-straight game and the fourth time this season.
After six-straight games away from Titan Gym, Fullerton plays its next two games at home starting with a contest against North Dakota State at 7:00 p.m. at Titan Gym on Friday night.
Notes: The Titans all-time record against the Bulldogs falls to 19-13…Fresno State's all-time record against Fullerton at Save Mart Center moves to 8-7…CSF's all-time record against the Mountain West Conference drops to 91-84…Chante Miles extended her streak of scoring in double digits to seven-straight games, two games away from her career-best nine straight from Nov. 8, 2013 to Dec. 14, 2013…Fullerton finishes its six-game road trip with an even 3-3 record, earning its first three wins of the season at Weber State, at New Mexico State, and at Denver…For the first time this season the Titans won the turnover battle, giving the ball away a season-low six times compared to the Bulldogs' 14 turnovers…Fullerton lost for the first time this season when taking a lead into the final half of play…With 12 points on Sunday, Chante Miles has scored 1,023 points in her Fullerton career, one-point away from passing Alex Thomas (1,024 points) for 21st on the all-time Titan scoring list.
