FULLERTON, Calif. - An offensive explosion from UC Riverside in the third quarter, coupled with foul trouble for Cal State Fullerton, helped lead the Highlanders to a 75-63 victory on Saturday night at Titan Gym in Big West Conference action.
The Titans (4-21, 1-11 BWC) have lost their last eight and remain in ninth place in the league standings, a full game behind UC Irvine, while UCR (15-11, 9-4 BWC) has won five of its last six and sits at third.
Lauren Holt led UC Riverside with her first double-double of the season scoring a game-high 20 points to go along with a team-high 10 rebounds, playing all 40 minutes. Michelle Curry added 18 points on an 8-of-10 night from the free-throw line while dishing a game-high seven assists and also nabbing three steals. Simone DeCoud scored 17 points – all in the first half – and added four assists in 40 minutes of action.
Iman Lathan led Cal State Fullerton with 14 points, while Jade Vega poured in 13 points to go along with three assists. China Henderson added 11 points and fell one rebound short of a double-double with nine, while Dhanyel Johnson pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
Fullerton trailed by just six at halftime, but UC Riverside outscored the Titans 26-15 in the third quarter to build a 17-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes of the game. Fullerton was also plagued by foul trouble in the quarter after sophomore forward Daeja Smith picked up her fourth foul with 7:27 left.
The Titans had cut UCR's lead to 33-29 after Lathan opened the second half with a jumper, but UCR nailed back-to-back three-pointers to quickly build their biggest lead of the game, 39-29, with 8:06 to play in the third.
The Highlanders maintained that 10-point advantage for four minutes, before ending the quarter on a 12-5 run.
The Titans shot 33.3 percent (18-of-54) from the floor, while the Highlanders shot 39.1 percent (25-of-64) and nailed 10 three-pointers. Fullerton held a slight 41-39 rebounding advantage, scoring 15 second-chance points, but the Titans also committed 19 turnovers, leading to 21 points for Riverside.
The Titans went to the free-throw line on 28 occasions, making 21.
Fullerton trailed just 20-15 at the end of the first quarter after Henderson knocked down a long-distance three-pointer from the wing at the buzzer. The Titans stayed within striking distance despite Smith leaving the game at the 5:47 minute mark of the first with two fouls, and not returning until there were over seven minutes left in the second.
Cal State Fullerton will play two more games at home next week, hosting CSUN at 7 p.m., Thursday and Hawai'i at 6 p.m., Saturday. The Titans will honor senior Dhanyel Johnson prior to Saturday's tip-off.
Notes: Cal State Fullerton is on an eight-game losing streak…UCR was without the Big West Conference's leading scorer Rejane Verin…Daeja Smith picked up her fifth foul of the game with 4:48 remaining…Fullerton's 63 points scored was its highest scoring total since a 64-53 victory over UC Irvine on Jan. 14...UCR leads the all-time series with Fullerton 28-24…Iman Lathan led the Titans in scoring for the 15th time this season.
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