SEATTLE, Wash. – Cal State Fullerton put up a fight all night, but a rough fourth quarter led to a 83-74 loss to Washington.
"Really proud of our effort tonight," said head coach Jeff Harada. "We stayed within striking distance the entire game, but some untimely turnovers and missed opportunities ultimately did us in. Nevertheless, I was happy at how we competed against a PAC-12 team who was bigger than us at every position."
Daeja Smith led the way with 22 points and 14 rebounds, both of which were game-highs. That gives her two double-doubles in the team's first two games. Raina Perez had a phenomenal Titan debut putting up 20 points and dishing out five assists. Amiee Book also had a great first game in the Titan uniform with 15 points going 3-4 from three. Jade Vega almost turned in a double-double of her own with 11 points and eight assists.
Harada continued, "Daeja had a monster game and showed why she is on the Lisa Leslie Award watch list. Raina and Amiee did some nice things in their first game as Titans and Jade had another solid game both scoring and distributing the ball."
Washington spread their scoring out, but Amber Melgoza led the Huskies with 18 points. Hannah Johnson was right behind her with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Haley Van Dyke put up 12 points while Mai-Loni Henson had 10 points as the final UW players in double-figures.
It was a very rocky start to the game for the Titans with nine turnovers in the first quarter, five of which came in the first three minutes of action. But Washington failed on cashing in on them, only scoring four points off the turnovers. Once Fullerton started to keep their possessions clean, they shot the lights out going 8-15 (53.3%) from the field as they went ended the first down by one.
The Titans continued to shoot the ball well in the second, but ran into some foul trouble committing seven fouls and allowing the Huskies to go 7-8 from the stripe. The two teams continued to battle back and forth with four lead changes and four ties throughout the quarter. Going into the break, Fullerton trailed it by three.
The Titans came out of halftime and got even better on offense, putting up 21 points on 69.2% shooting. Unfortunately, the Husky offense matched them shot for shot and ended their three-point woes going 4-6 from beyond the arc. With four players in double-figures for the Titans after three, Fullerton went into the final quarter trailing by six.
The fourth would spell the end for the Titans after three well-fought quarters. CSF shot just 5-18 (1-9 from three) turning in their lowest scoring quarter with just 14 points. Meanwhile, the defense could not stop the Husky offense shooting 43% from the field and at one point going on a 7-0 run to put their lead into double-digits. Fullerton would end up getting the deficit down to single-digits by the end of the game, but fell to Washington 83-74.
"Overall, I'm pleased with how we played in our two games on this trip. We learned a lot about ourselves and I know we're looking forward to prepare for two big games next week including our home opener," Harada concluded.
The Titans will be back in action next Tuesday, Nov. 13 as they travel to Riverside, Calif. for a game against Cal Baptist. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
Homecoming – Saturday, December 1, 2018
Cal State Fullerton is set to host its first ever Double Header at the 2018 Homecoming Event on Saturday, December 1st. Women's Basketball takes on CSU Bakersfield at 2:30pm followed by Men's Basketball taking on Cal Lutheran at 6:00pm. In between the two games fans can take part in the Homecoming pre-game festival. Homecoming package includes general admission to the festival and both Women's and Men's Basketball games, a custom student designed T-shirt, meal voucher for In-N-Out Burger, and non-alcoholic beverages. Click HERE for Homecoming Package options. The pre-game festival begins at 2:00pm, so come early and make a day out of it with the Titans! For more information on Homecoming go to https://alumni.fullerton.edu/studentoutreach/homecoming
SUPPORT THE TITANS!
Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting FullertonTitans.com/Tickets. The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278-2783 or by email at athletictixs@fullerton.edu. The Ticket Office is located at the Titan House off of Gymnasium Drive at the eastern end of the Intramural Fields and is open from 10 am – 4 pm PT, Monday – Friday.
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