Box Score (PDF)
SEATTLE, Wash. – The Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team used a strong second half performance to rally past Seattle, 66-59, on Sunday afternoon at Connolly Center behind 28 points from Chante Miles and 13 points from Hailey King.
Fullerton (6-7), winners of three of its last four, outscored the Redhawks 46-24 in the final half to come away with the win Sunday in Seattle. The Titans shot 47 percent (5-of-26) from the field and 37 percent (3-of-15) from behind the three-point line in the final 20 minutes to earn the victory. Seattle, who posted a 47 percent field goal percentage (13-of-28) in the first half while building a 15-point halftime lead, could only shoot 27 percent (7-of-26) in the second half to finish out the game.
Miles kept CSF within striking distance during their cold-shooting first half by pouring in 12 points on 4-of-10 from the field and shooting 2-of-7 from three-point range. The only other Titan to score a field goal in the half was Tailer Butler who scored five points after shooting 1-of-4 from the field.
The Redhawks (3-12) enjoyed a balanced first half of scoring led by Wilma Afunugo and Alexis Montgomery who contributed eight points each and Kaylee Best who scored five. Seattle outrebounded the Titans 21-15 en route to their biggest lead of the game, 35-20, at halftime.
The second half was a completely different story, as the Titans shot 15-of-32 from the field (47 percent) and slowly chipped away at their halftime deficit until a three-pointer by King gave the Titans their first lead of the game with 6:08 left to play. Fullerton played shut-down defense, sunk their free throws, and mixed in a Samantha Logan three-pointer with 2:24 left in the game to close it out.
Fullerton, who has struggled with winning the turnover battle all season long, coughed up the ball 10 times but forced the Redhawks into 19 total giveaways, with 11 of them coming in the second half of play. The Titans gained ground on the Redhawks by converting those turnovers into points, as Fullerton scored 20 points off turnovers whereas the Redhawks could only score eight points off of the Titan turnovers.
"I'm really proud of this group and the fight they showed in the second half today," head coach Daron Park said. "I really challenged them at halftime, and they responded. It shows tremendous character for a team to rally together and compete the way they did to get this road win."
Natalie Williams was the unsung hero for the Titans on Sunday. by filling in for Fullerton's second-leading scorer, Kathleen Iwuoha, after she went down with an injury in the first half. Williams pulled down nine rebounds, played a season-high 27 minutes, and made clutch free throws in the final minutes to help close out the come-from-behind victory.
"Natalie was a huge spark for us in the second half," Park said. "Her will and determination on the court were contagious. We always talk about being one play away from a huge role and when Kat went down Natalie's number was called and she was ready."
Titans wrapped up their non-conference schedule with the win on Sunday, and now look forward to hosting UC Riverside to kick off Big West Conference play at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday at Titan Gym.
Notes: The win on Sunday at Seattle improves Cal State Fullerton's all-time record against the Redhawks to 4-0…The Titans are now 2-0 all-time at Connolly Center against Seattle to add to their 2-0 record against them at Titan Gym…The Titans are now 89-71 all-time against the Western Athletic Conference…With 28 points on Sunday afternoon, Chante Miles has moved up the Fullerton all-time scoring list and now sits 15th place all-time after passing Amber Pruitt (1,078 points), Terri Withers (1,078), Brenda Martin (1,094, Jill Matyuch (1,097), Lyndsey Grove (1,098), and Claudette Jackson (1,100) on the list…Miles also extended her career-long streak of scoring in double figures to 11-straight games…Natalie Williams played a season-high 27 minutes, recording one block to earn her eighth place all-time on the Fullerton career shot blockers list, she was previously tied with Charlee Underwood…Fullerton finishes its non-conference schedule with a 6-7 record, the slate featured five teams that were either in the NCAA Tournament of WNIT Postseason a year ago…The starting lineup of Miles, Butler, Logan, Iwuoha and Smith has now posted a 5-3 record on the season for the Titans...The Titans will face off in the Big West Conference opener with UC Riverside for the second consecutive year, last year Fullerton won the opener 82-78 at UC Riverside.
