HENDERSON, Nev. – Cal State Fullerton women's basketball lost in the quarterfinals of the Big West Tournament to UC Irvine, 80-68, Wednesday night at the Dollar Loan Center.
The Titans advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Cal Poly Tuesday afternoon in round one of the Tournament. Fullerton has won three Big West Tournament games in five years under Head Coach Jeff Harada.
Fullerton had a good start to the game, shooting 54.5 percent in the first quarter to leave the team down just two points, 17-15, heading into the second. UC Irvine extended its lead in the second quarter, leading 40-27 at halftime.
The Titans gave it everything to comeback in the second half, out scoring the Anteaters 41-40, but ultimately came up short down the stretch.
Lily Wahinekapu was one point shy of tying her career-high, scoring a game-high 26 points on 7-of-18 shooting from the field while grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out four assists. Wahinekapu was nearly perfect from the free-throw line, going 10-for-11.
If y'all don't want to defend Lily.....��#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/XPEqF2rlCb
— Titans Women's Basketball (@FullertonWBB) March 10, 2022
Kayla Williams led UC Irvine offensively with 22 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. Hunter Hernandez added 15 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting.
In her final game as a Titan, Carolyn Gill scored 13 points with four rebounds and two assists. Gill became the all-time leader at Fullerton in games played this season with 143 and is fourth all-time in rebounding with 855.
Great find! Great finish! Wahinekapu ➡️ @_cgilly #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/nF0BvGIcnz
— Titans Women's Basketball (@FullertonWBB) March 10, 2022
The Titans now look to improve for the 2022-23 season. Nine of 11 players who competed against UC Irvine Wednesday night are set to return next year.
WATCH THE TITANS ON ESPN+
Titans fans can now watch every home basketball game exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN quality production for all games at Titan Gym which will also lead into baseball and softball games. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing ESPN quality streams which will allow fans to watch the Titans on ESPN+ for all road conference games.
FOLLOW THE TITANS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans), and Instagram (FullertonTitans). In addition, the basketball team has established its own Twitter (@FullertonWBB) and Instagram accounts (@FullertonWBB).
