LONG BEACH, Calif. – With spectators barred from the Walter Pyramid due to COVID-19 precautions, the building was eerily devoid of crowd noise as the #6-seed Titans eliminated #7-seed CSUN 67-52 on Tuesday night in the opening round of the Big West Women's Basketball Tournament. This was head coach Jeff Harada's first conference tournament win.
Taylor Turney provided the noise for Cal State Fullerton, scoring 27 points and hauling down nine rebounds. Turney surely didn't do it alone, as the Titans shared the rock and everyone contributed. Four Titans scored in double figures, and two players had double-doubles.
Big West Player of the Year, Raina Perez posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 assists to go with seven rebounds and four steals. Carolyn Gill scored 10 points and hauled down six boards. Amiee Book contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds for her double-double.
Harada had this to say about the tourney win: "I thought tonight may have been the best that we played all season. We were sharp on both ends of the floor, and played with an edge for 40 minutes. We moved well on offense, shared the ball, and made shots. But I was particularly happy how we took care of the ball, finishing with just seven turnovers.
"Defensively we stuck to the game plan and had great energy and effort on that end. Amiee (Book) had a really solid game, and Taylor (Turney), Raina (Perez), and Carolyn (Gill) showed why they were All-Big West performers, stuffing the stat sheet and doing what they do best."
Fullerton outshot the Matadors 43.8% to 32.7%. The Titans also outrebounded CSUN 39-38 to contribute to the win. All Titans in uniform saw the floor. Fullerton last beat Cal State Northridge on January 15, 2011.
Raina Perez has now scored 980 points as a Titan. She is just 20 points short of joining Cal State Fullerton's 1,000 Point Club.
With the win, the #6 Titans (17-13, 8-8 BWC) will next play #4 Hawai'i on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. in the Walter Pyramid in the quarterfinals of the Big West Women's Basketball Tournament. Remember, even if you can't attend, all games are being broadcast on ESPN3.
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