MALIBU, Calif. – After falling behind Pepperdine early in the game and trailing for nearly three quarters, the Cal State Fullerton women's basketball had a huge fourth quarter to complete the 68-63 comeback win over the Waves at the Firestone Fieldhouse.
The Titans (3-3) outscored the Waves (2-3) 21-13 in the final period on 8-12 shooting (66.7%). The Titans also outscored Pepperdine 37-27 for the second half.
After a slow start for Lily Wahinekapu in the first half where she was held to just two points, the freshman guard scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half with seven in the fourth quarter alone. Wahinekapu and Gaby Vidmar had back-to-back three pointers to start the 4th quarter and gave the Titans their first lead of the game at the 53-52 mark since the very first basket of the game.
Pepperdine led 36-31 after the first half. Pepperdine increased their lead to nine points at 42-33 with 7:02 left in the third quarter before the Titans began clawing back into the game. The Titans went on a 14-8 run after facing their biggest deficit of the game with Wahinekapu nailing a three-pointer to close the third quarter up with the Titans training only by three (50-47).
The Titans started the fourth quarter on a 14-4 run (shooting 6-for-7) to begin the period which gave the Titans their largest lead of the game at 61-54. The Titans defense held Pepperdine to just 30% (6-for-20) shooting in the fourth quarter. After a Pepperdine bucket at 2:07 that made it a 4-point game, the Titans were able to ride out the win and secure the five point victory over the Waves.
The Titans had three players in double-digit scoring. Wahinekapu had 14 points with 3 rebounds and 8 assists. Ashlee Lewis had 14 points with 5 rebounds. Vidmar had 13 points (3-4 from the 3-point line) and 6 rebounds. The Titans had 30 points off the bench with all four reserves chipping in. Cal State Fullerton shot 45% from the game (27-for-60) and held the Waves to less than 40% from the field. Malia Bambrick led the Waves with 21 points with 15 of those coming in the first half.
Cal State Fullerton returns home to Titan Gym for one game next week on Saturday December 4th vs Grand Canyon. The game is part of a scheduled double-header with the men's team and the women's game will tip-off at 2:00 PM.
