Jan. 24, 2009
FULLERTON, CA - Cal State Bakersfield's Christine Kepenekian had a double-double with 22 points and 15 rebounds to led three other players in double figures and help lift the visiting Roadrunners to a 90-76 victory over host Cal State Fullerton in a non-conference women's basketball match-up on Saturday evening at Titan Gym.
The loss was the third straight for the Titans, who fell to 6-11 overall with the loss, while Bakersfield improved to 13-7 overall with the victory - its fifth straight.
Freshman Megan Richardson led all Fullerton players with a career-high 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting, surpassing her previous best of 21 points set against Pacific on Jan. 17. Senior Toni Thomas added her fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds while sophomore Ashley Richie added 10 points in the loss.
The Roadrunners shot just under 56 percent from the field for the game, including a 60 percent clip in a big second half that saw Bakersfield outscore Fullerton, 45-30, after it had trailed by a point, 46-45, at halftime.
The Titans led by as many as nine points in an opening half that saw three ties and a pair of lead changes, but they could never quite shake the Roadrunners, who closed the first period on a 10-2 run to make it a one-point game at the break.
Neither team led by more than four in the first eight minutes of the second half as the Titans forged a 59-59 tie on a lay-up by Richie with 11:57 remaining. However, that would be as close as Fullerton would come the rest of the way as a three-pointer by Tiffany Belt kick-started an 11-4 run for the Roadrunners, who eventually extended their lead to double digits at 77-67 with just under five minutes to play and they never looked back.
Krista Arase joined Kepenekian in double figures with 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including four three-pointers, while Williams (15) and Nikhol West (10) also finished in double digits.
Cal State Fullerton closes out its three-game homestand on Thursday (Jan. 29) at 7 p.m. as the Titans host Long Beach State.