TIP-OFF
Cal State Fullerton welcomes CSUN and Long Beach State to begin its last home stand of the 2014-15 season. The Matadors visit Titan Gym on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and the rival 49er's make the short trip to Fullerton on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
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Cal State Fullerton vs CSUN
Thursday Feb. 26, 2015 | 7:00 PM
Titan Gym • Fullerton, Calif.
Live Stats: www.FullertonTitans.com
Video: www.FullertonTitans.com
Audio: www.FullertonTitans.com
Cal State Fullerton vs Long Beach State
Saturday Feb. 28, 2015 | 4:00 PM
Titan Gym • Fullerton, Calif.
Live Stats: www.FullertonTitans.com
Audio: www.FullertonTitans.com
Video: www.FullertonTitans.com
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
Cal State Fullerton (10-15) vs. CSUN (18-9)
Overall Record.............................................................32-17
Home Record................................................................14-7
Away Record.................................................................16-9
Neutral Site Record.........................................................1-1
Longest Win Streak......................................................... 18
Longest Losing Streak....................................................... 7
Current Streak............................................................... L 8
Record in Last 10 Meetings............................................. 1-9
Last Meeting.................................... Feb. 7, 2015 (L, 82-51)
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
Cal State Fullerton (10-15) vs. LBSU (20-6)
Overall Record.............................................................35-65
Home Record............................................................. 17-29
Away Record.............................................................. 12-32
Neutral Site Record........................................................ 5-4
Longest Win Streak......................................................... 15
Longest Losing Streak..................................................... 26
Current Streak............................................................... L 2
Record in Last 10 Meetings............................................ 3-7
Last Meeting................................. Jan. 31, 2015 (L, 74-70)
SERIES NOTES
CSUN: After suffering the largest defeat of the season at CSUN on Feb. 7, the Titans will look to return the favor at Titan Gym. CSUN has dominated in recent history, taking a 9-1 record against Fullerton into Thursday's matchup.
Long Beach State: In the last matchup between the long-time rivals, The Beach narrowly pulled out the 74-70 victory over the Titans on Jan. 31 of this season. Fullerton will look to split the season series and take that momentum into hosting the last two games of the season.
PARK'S PREVIEW
"This is another challenging week for our team as we face two extremely good basketball teams, we will have to play our absolute best to compete with both. The encouraging thing for us is that we have shown signs of doing just that by winning at Cal Poly for the first time in 10 years. That was a great accomplishment for this team and this program and we need to continue to understand the effort and constant work and determination it takes to compete against the top teams in the league every night. This week provides us with another two great tests for our young program." - Daron Park
CONFERENCE CALL
Cal State Fullerton is 206-253 all-time against the Big West Conference.
FULLERTON'S RECENT RESULTS
Feb. 21 at UC Santa Barbara
The Titans dropped the second game of its two-game central coast road trip on Saturday afternoon, 48-39, to UC Santa Barbara at The Thunderdome behind 10 points from Clair Watkins and eight assists from Onome Jemerigbe.
The Titans ran into a spirited UCSB team on senior day as the winless Gaucho's jumped out to an early 8-1 lead through the first six minutes of the game. Strong defense mixed with Titan turnovers led to Fullerton's early offensive struggles in the opening minutes as the Titans were held scoreless through the first media timeout.
For the second game in a row the Titans shot under 20 percent from the field and from behind the three-point line through the first 20 minutes of the game. Senior Chante Miles led the Titans on the offensive end with 7 points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field and 1-of-5 from deep. Miles was one of four Titans to make a field goal in the opening frame as Fullerton shot 4-of-22 (18 percent) and 2-of-11 (18 percent) from behind the arc.
With 14:40 left to play in the game, Miles drained her second three-pointer of the game to hand the Titans their first lead of the game at 26-23. Until the trey fell through the hoop UCSB never trailed in the game and led for 21 minutes through the first 28 minutes of play.
The last 10 minutes of the game the Titan offense returned to first half form and went ice cold, only managing nine points the rest of the way. Gaucho sophomore point guard Jemerigbe took over the last half of the second frame, racking up 7 assists to add to her total from the first half to lead the team with eight assists on the afternoon.
Turnovers hurt the Titans all game long on Saturday afternoon, giving the ball away 22 times that directly lead to 22 Gaucho points. Fullerton forced 14 Gaucho turnovers but could only turn those opportunities into nine points.
The Titans were led on the scoreboard by Miles who poured in 12 points while adding three assists in her 40 minutes on the floor. Iwuoha turned in her seventh double double of the season with an 11-point, 15-rebound performance, and Samantha Logan came off the bench to help the Titans on the glass, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out three assists.
BREAKING DOWN CSUN
The Matadors will enter Titan Gym on Thursday night looking to extend their four-game winning streak in Big West Conference action. Entering the second-to-last week of regular season action, CSUN sits in a tie for 3rd place with Cal Poly with a record of 8-5.
Just two weeks ago the Matadors found themselves all alone in 6th place with a record of 5-5 in the Big West Conference standings. CSUN has responded in the past four games to shoot back up the Big West leaderboard to get back into the championship picture.
Reigning Big West Player of the Year Ashlee Guay leads the Matadors on the offensive end of the floor, averaging 15 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.
BREAKING DOWN THE BEACH
After a scorching start to the season that saw Long Beach State win 17 of its first 18 games, and six of its first eight in Big West Conference play, the shorthanded 49er's come into week 15 on a two-game losing streak after losses to Cal Poly and at UC Davis.
The Beach were without the help of leading scorer Raven Benton and leading rebounder Devin Hudson in the loss at UC Davis in their last time out. A weekend bye was exactly what the 49er's needed as they host Big West Confrerence leaders Hawai'i on Thursday and visit the Titans on Saturday.
Long Beach State relies on balanced scoring from up and down the entire roster with Benton the only 49er to average double figures in points this season (12 p.p.g.). Lauren Spargo and Hallie Meneses are right behind Benton scoring 9.8 and 9.5 points per game, respectively.
TOURNAMENT TICKETS ON SALE
Single-session tickets for the 2015 Big West Basketball Tournament go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, February 24 at 10:00 a.m. Fans can purchase tickets at institutional box offices, the Honda Center Box Office, Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster retail outlets, or by calling 800-745-3000. The women's tournament first round and quarterfinals games will be played at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Gym on Tuesday, March 10 and Wednesday, March 11.
BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Chante Miles - Dec. 29, 2014 - Jan. 5, 2015
18 points and a career-high 12 assists Dec. 31 vs UMKC...28-point performance Jan. 4 vs Seattle...Averaged 23.0 points, 9.0 assists, and 3.5 rebounds for the week...First Big West Player of the Week selection for a Fullerton women's basketball player since Megan Richardson won the award Nov. 16, 2009.
IWUOHA'S RETURN SPARKS TITAN OFFENSE
Since returning from a three-game absence from Jan. 15 to Jan. 22, Kathleen Iwuoha has scored in double figures in eight-straight games, and nine straight dating back to Jan. 8 against UC Riverside. Her performances on Feb. 5 at UC Riverside and Feb. 7 at CSUN earned her a nomination in the Big West Player of the Week voting as she averaged a double double for the week (17pts., 11 reb.). She posted her team-leading seventh double double in a 11-point, 15-rebound outing on Feb. 21 in a losing effort at Titan Gym against Big West Conference foe UC Santa Barbara.
MILES CHASING HISTORY
With 12 points on Saturday afternoon at UC Santa Barbara, Chante Miles now has 1,351 points in her Titan career, she currently sits 10th-place all time on the Titan scoring list. Miles is 32 points shy of Charlee Underwood (1,382 points) for 9th-place in the Fullerton record book.
CAREER NIGHTS
Chante Miles: The guard from Compton, Calif. could not be stopped Feb. 19 at Cal Poly as she dropped a career-high 36 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 from behind the arc.
Amanda Tivenius: The freshman from Lindingo, Sweden scored a career-high 16 points on a very efficient 6-of-8 shooting from the floor against San Diego on Nov 18.
Daeja Smith: Freshman Daeja Smith produced the first double-double of her career Nov. 29 against New Mexico State, dropping 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, while adding a career-high three blocks.
Natalie Williams: Natalie Williams played a season-high 27 minutes on Sunday at Seattle and recorded one block. With that block, she now sits alone in eighth place all-time on the Fullerton career shot blockers list, she was previously tied with Charlee Underwood (2003-2007).
Samantha Logan: Samantha Logan led the charge on the glass for the Titans in a 58-49 victory over UC Riverside in the opening game of Big West Conference play on Jan.8. Logan pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds and dished out three assists in her 34 minutes on the floor.
Titan Defense: The Cal State Fullerton defense was played a historically dominant first half against UC Irvine on Jan. 15 at Bren Events Center. The Titans held the Anteaters to a school-record 12 points allowed in the first half of play. The record was previously held by the 1970 squad who gave up 13 points to Cal Western (a.k.a USIU) on Feb. 19.
Kathleen Iwuoha: While posting her team-best seventh double double of the season, the senior from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds at UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 21. Six of those 15 rebounds came on the offensive end of the floor where Iwuoha added 11 points to her stellar night on the glass.
INDIVIDUALS IN THE BIG WEST (2014-15 Big West Statistics)
Chante Miles: 39.0 m.p.g. • 38 asst. • 20 stl. • 21.5 p.p.g.
Kathleen Iwuoha: 35.7 m.p.g. • 30 Off. Reb. • 9.8 r.p.g. • 13.0 p.p.g.
Samantha Logan: 29.3 m.p.g. • 5.8 r.p.g • 70 Reb. • 5.1 p.p.g.
Hailey King: 19.5 m.p.g. • 3.8 p.p.g. • 36% 3FG • 37% FG
Daeja Smith: 17.9 m.p.g. • 48% FG • 4.7 r.p.g. • 4.2 p.p.g.
Tailer Butler: 34.2 m.p.g. • 30% FG • 5.0 r.p.g. • 9.8 p.p.g.
BY THE NUMBERS
• Senior guard Chante Miles scored 12 points on Saturday against UCSB, extending her streak of scoring in double figures to 23-straight games. Her previous career-high streak of nine games was set last year from Nov. 8, 2013 to Dec. 14, 2013.
• Kathleen Iwuoha leads the Titans with seven double-double's on the season. Her latest coming Feb. 21 at UCSB, scoring 11 points and grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds.
• Freshman Daeja Smith earned the second double-double of her career at Fullerton, scoring 12 points and pulling down 10 rebounds at CSUN Feb. 7.
• Senior Tailer Butler caught fire from deep Jan. 17 at UC Davis, scoring a season-high 19 points by draining a season-high five three-pointers.
• Junior Hailey King came off the bench to lead the Titans in scoring on Dec. 14 against Fresno State, she dropped a season-high 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, while playing a season-high 28 minutes.
THE STARTING FIVE
Fullerton has experimented with eight starting lineups this year, with only Chante Miles apart of each combination. Samantha Logan has started 20-of-25 games this season, and came off the bench on Feb. 7 at CSUN for the first time in 2014-15. True freshman Daeja Smith has now started 21-of-25 games for the Titans.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE TRACKER
Kathleen Iwouha
• Nov. 28 vs Eastern Michigan - Iwuoha scored a season-high 24 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in a 78-74 loss to Eastern Michigan in the Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic opener.
• Dec. 3 at Denver - Iwuoha posted her second double-double of the season, scoring 24 points and pulling down 12 rebounds in a 78-61 win at Denver.
• Dec. 31 vs UMKC - The senior scored 14 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to garner her team-leading third double double of the season.
• Jan. 8 vs UCR - Iwuoha earned her team-leading, fourth double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) of the year.
• Feb. 5 at UCR - Iwuoha posted her fifth double double of the year with a 19-point, 14-rebound performance.
• Feb. 14 vs Hawai'i - Iwuoha earned her team-leading sixth double double of the year with 13 pts and 13 reb.
• Feb. 21 at UCSB - Iwuoha posted a career-high 15 rebounds while pouring in 11 points in the loss at UCSB.
Daeja Smith
• Nov. 29 at New Mexico State - Freshman Daeja Smith produced the first double-double of her career Nov. 29 at New Mexico State, dropping 10 points, pulling down a career-high 11 rebounds, and adding a career-high three blocks.
• Feb. 7 at CSUN - Smith earned her second-career double double at The Matadome scoring 12 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.
Chante Miles
• Dec. 31 vs UMKC- The guard from Compton, Calif. posted her first double double of the season, scoring 18 points and setting a season-high mark with 10 assists on Dec. 31 against UMKC.
BUFFALO WILD WINGS STUDENT ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Jan. 19 - Jan. 25
Chante Miles - 28 points against UCSB on Jan. 24...16th-straight game scoring in double figures...Passed Lauren Chow for 12th place on Titan's all-time scoring list
Nov. 24 - Nov. 30
Chante Miles - 25.3 points per game...3.3 assists per game...38.0 mintues per game
Dec. 1 - Dec. 7
Chante Miles - 22 points per game...became 23rd member of 1,000-point club...extended her streak of scoring in double figures to six-straight games.
Dec. 29 - Dec. 4
Chante Miles - Averaged 23.0 points, 9.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds...moved to 15th on all-time Fullerton scoring list...exended her streak of scoring in double figures to 11-straight games.
Feb. 16 - Feb. 22
Chante Miles - Averaged 24 points, 3 assists and 2.5 steals in 39.5 minutes per game for the week... She poured in 22 points in the first half in a win at Cal Poly, finishing with a career-high 36 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 from deep.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
The Titans welcome four new faces to the squad for the 2014-15 season. Here is more on the transfers and true freshmen ready to make an impact this season:
• Dhanyel Johnson | C | 6-3 | St. Andrews HS, Spanish Town, Jamaica
• Portia Neale | G | 5-8 | Clovis West HS, Calif.
• Daeja Smith | C | 6-3 | Etiwanda HS, Calif.
• Amanda Tivenius | G/F | 6-0 | Hersbey Gymnasium, Lindingo, Sweden
GLOBE TROTTING
Fullerton's global reach became a little longer this season with two newcomers from outside of the U.S. Freshman Amanda Tivenius hailing from Lindingo, Sweden, and Dhanyel Johnson from Spanish Town, Jamaica.
TITANS SIXTH IN BIG WEST POLL
The Big West Preseason Media Poll was released on Oct. 22 with the Titans picked to finish sixth during the 2014-15 season. After sweeping both the regular season and conference tournament titles last season, CSUN is the favorite to take home the crown once again this season. Hawai'i checked in behind the Matadors, earning one first place vote. Cal Poly was voted to finish third after back-to-back trips to the Big West tournament finals and UC Davis finishes the top half of the poll at fourth. Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine, UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara round out the rest of the poll.
A LOOK BACK
Cal State Fullerton finished the season 12-18 overall and 8-8 in the Big West conference under first year head coach Daron Park. The 2013-14 squad had its most conference wins since the 2009-10 season and secured its eighth double-digit win season in the last nine years.
JOIN "PARK'S PACK"
The Cal State Fullerton women's basketball program invites fans and supporters of the Titans to join "Park's Pack," a club created to allow fans to become engaged specifically with the Fullerton women's basketball team. Membership benefits include an opportunity to support and improve the quality of the program, a regular newsletter with insights from the coaching staff, a lanyard to gain access to select pregame chalk talks, and an invitation to participate in special events with the team.
For more information or to make a gift to the women's basketball team and become a member of "Park's Pack," please make a gift by visiting: http://fullertontitans.com/get_involved/Park-s_Pack
GAMES TO WATCH IN 2014-15
Nov. 16 • vs Montana State (L, 63-47) - Season opener for the Titans and coach Park facing his alma mater.
Nov. 21 • vs. Villanova ( L, 50-43) - First time the Titans will square off against the Wildcats in school history. Also, a tough test vs. a 2014 WNIT team (23-9 overall, 12-6 Big East Conference).
Dec. 6 • at South Dakota (L, 86-50) - Early season road test for the Titans versus the 2013 Summit League Champions and rematch of last year's season opener that South Dakota won 66-57 at Titan Gym.
Dec. 14 • at Fresno State (L, 57-52) - A week after facing off against South Dakota, the Titans will travel north to face another NCAA Tournament team from a year ago.
Dec. 21 • vs. Albany (L, 71-49) - 2014 NCAA Tournament team and America East defending champions come to Titan Gym to face the Titans.
Jan. 8 • vs. UC Riverside (W, 58-49) - Big West Season and home opener
Jan. 31 • at Long Beach State (L, 74-70) – Game featured on ESPN3, and first time the two teams will play since the Titans fell to the 49ers in the 2014 Big West Tournament first round at The Pyramid.
Feb. 7 • at CSUN (L, 82-51)– Titans will head on the road to take on the 2014 Big West Tournament Champions led by last year's conference player of the year Ashlee Guay.
Feb. 28 • vs. Long Beach State – The Titans and 49ers square off for the second time during the 2014-15 season, but this time at Titan Gym.
Mar. 5 • vs. UC Irvine – Cal State Fullerton's Senior Night
*For tickets to Titan women's basketball games log onto www.FullertonTitans.com and click the "Tickets" link.
