IRVINE, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team beat UC Irvine 62-51 Thursday night at Bren Events Center behind a dominant first half defensive performance and 13 points from freshman Daeja Smith and senior Tailer Butler.
The Titan defense was too much for the Anteaters in the opening 20 minutes as Fullerton surrendered just 12 points to UC Irvine in the entire first half. The output was the fewest points allowed in one half of play in Titan women's basketball history as the record was previously held by the 1970 squad who gave up 13 points to Cal Western (a.k.a USIU) on Feb. 19, 1970.
"That's special," said head coach Daron Park. "Our kids are really buying into what we're selling. We talk about trying to establish an identity on the defensive end, and we did that tonight. We did a nice job executing our game plan from start to finish. We did an outstanding job contesting every shot, rebounding the basketball, and getting some easy baskets in transition after stops so we could build a little bit of a lead."
UCI (3-15, 0-3) only managed to shoot 18 percent from the field (5-of-27) and 28 percent from deep (2-of-7) in the opening 20 minutes. Fullerton dominated the paint right from the start, outscoring the Anteaters 10-2 in the half en-route to a 43 percent shooting clip from the field (12-of-28) and 42 percent (4-of-9) from deep.
Fullerton (8-7, 2-0) never trailed in the first half, and jumped out to an 8-0 lead before an Irene Chavez three-pointer with 14:18 on the clock gave the Anteaters their first points. The Titans did not take their foot off the pedal throughout the rest of the half as they took a 31-12 lead into halftime.
Hailey King, in her first start of the season, led the Titans in the early going, scoring five points (3-of-6) during the opening five minutes of the game. Chante Miles was the point-leader for the Titans at the break with nine points (3-of-11) and four assists.
Despite the deficit, UC Irvine came out in the second half looking like a new team and scored the first four points of the frame. Through the first seven minutes of the final half, UC Irvine shot 60 percent from the field (6-of-10) and fought their way back into the game.
Even with the Anteaters hot-shooting second half, Smith, and the rest of the Titans turned it on in the paint to sustain their double-digit lead to the final horn. Smith ended the game tied for a team-high with 13 points while pulling down eight rebounds in her 22 minutes on the floor. Butler, who drained three trey's and shot 5-of-10 from the field overall, was the other Titan that scored 13 points while also grabbing eight boards.
Fullerton enjoyed a balanced scoring night on Thursday, with all five starters contributing to the cause on the scoreboard. Butler scored 13 points (5-of-10), Miles poured in 11 (4-of-19), Samantha Logan contributed nine (3-of-5), Smith scored 13 (6-of-10) and King put in nine (4-of-8).
The Anteaters were led by Chavez who poured in 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and a scorching 4-of-5 from behind the three-point line. Mokun Fajemisin led UCI on the glass with 10 boards in her 36 minutes on the floor.
The Titans had the clear advantage all night in the paint, ending the game outscoring the Anteaters 30-12 down low. Fullerton outrebounded UCI 36-33, created 17 turnovers leading to 16 points, and did not trail at any point in the game.
"Road wins are golden," said Park. "We talk about it and put so much emphasis on it and to come on the road tonight, fight through some adversity, and control the game from start to finish says a lot about these kids and this team. It also says a lot about what we're trying to do in this tough conference. We're 2-0, which we'll enjoy for the next few minutes, and then we'll turn our sights on trying to get another road win on Saturday.
The Titans continue their two-game road trip as they travel to The Pavilion at UC Davis to take on the Aggies Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
Notes: The Titans all-time record against the Anteaters improves to an even 35-35…Fullerton's all time record at Bren Events Center moves to 10-20…Senior Kathleen Iwuoha did not play tonight due to injury...Chante Miles extended her double figures scoring streak to thirteen-straight games with her 11 points tonight…The Titans all-time record in Big West Conference play moves to 204-245…Fullerton extended their winning streak to four-straight games, a new season high...Miles moves closer to taking over 13th place all-time on the Fullerton scoring list, she now has 1,130 points in her Titan career…The Titans gave up a season-low, and school-record breaking 12 points to the Anteaters in the first half of tonight's game…Fullerton starts Big West Conference play by beating UC Riverside and UC Irvine, back-to-back, for the second-straight year.