DAVIS, Calif. – With Carolyn Gill in foul trouble, Raina Perez and Taylor Turney put the game on their shoulders as the Titans (14-10, 6-5 BWC) beat league-leading UC Davis 71-61 on Thursday afternoon in The Pavilion. The win snapped UCD's 28-game Big West home winning streak, and was the first Titan win in The Pavilion since 2014. Previously, Fullerton had lost their last 11 games to UC Davis, including a 61-72 loss earlier in February in Titan Gym.
Big West leading scorer Raina Perez was unstoppable, particularly in the second half, as she finished the day with 34 points and nine rebounds. Taylor Turney kept the Titans in the contest when both Gill and Perez had to sit with foul trouble. Turney completed the game with 24 points, nine boards, four assists and three steals for Fullerton.
Forward Amiee Book scored seven points and hauled down six rebounds and had three blocked shots. Starters Madison Freemon and Carolyn Gill added two points apiece. Freemon also pulled down five rebounds in the win. Ashlee Ane's two points were the only bench scoring for Cal State Fullerton in the game.
Head coach Jeff Harada had this to say about the win: "I'm so proud of our team's effort today. We knew about their (UC Davis) home winning streak in conference, so this game meant a lot to all of us.
"We played with tremendous heart, wanting to prove who we are and what we're capable of. Defensively we were locked in, and our determination to rebound was the difference from the last time that we played them.
"Just a tremendous win for our program, and I'm so happy for our team."
The Titans outshot the Aggies 42.6% to 36.2% from the floor, outrebounded Davis 42-33, and shot an important 16-21 (76.2%) from the charity stripe. Fullerton committed only nine turnovers, and had six steals on the afternoon. UC Davis remains atop the Big West standings at 14-11, 9-3 BWC.
Cal State Fullerton will return home on Saturday, February 22 for a 6:00 p.m. home game with Cal State Northridge (9-15, 4-6). It will also be Breast Cancer Awareness Night. All fans wearing PINK will be admitted FREE. To help raise awareness to this important cause, the Titans will be attired in special pink uniforms.
With five regular season games left to play, two more wins will assure the Titans of their first overall winning record since the 1990-91 season.
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