Feb. 5, 2009
SANTA BARBARA, CA - UC Santa Barbara's Lauren Pedersen scored a team-high 15 points and led two teammates in double figures to lead the host Gauchos to a 57-46 victory over visiting Cal State Fullerton.
The loss for the Titans was their sixth straight as they fell to 6-14 overall and 3-6 in Big West Conference play. UCSB improved to 14-7 overall and remained perfect in league play at 9-0, winning its 32nd consecutive meeting with Cal State Fullerton dating back to 1995.
Senior Daviyonne Weathersby led the Titans' offense with a career night, scoring a game-high 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting to go with six rebounds. The total surpassed her previous best of 13 points achieved twice in her four-year Fullerton career and bettered her previous season best of 12 points scored against Georgia on Nov. 28 earlier this year.
Senior Toni Thomas added 10 points and six rebounds to notch her eighth double-digit game of the season and finish as the only other Titan in double figures.
Jenna Green (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Jordan Franey (10 points) joined Pedersen in double figures for the Gauchos, who outshot the Titans 45 percent to 27 percent for the game.
Fullerton led by as many as four points early on the second half, and stayed with UCSB through the first eight minutes, tying the score at 33-33 with 12:41 remaining in the game.
That's when the Gauchos kicked their offense into gear, using a 12-1 run to break open a two-point game with just over 10 minutes to play and race to the win.
A back-and-forth first half saw the two teams deadlocked at 20-20 after the first 20 minutes. Neither team led by more than six points as the score was tied eight different times.
The Titans led or the score was tied for all but 14 seconds in the opening half as Weathersby was the catalyst with a first half-high eight points to lead all scorers.
UC Santa Barbara held a 47-30 advantage on the boards and overcame 21 turnovers on the night, which Fullerton was able to convert into inly eight points. The Titans committed a season-low eight miscues - the fewest in a game since Cal State Fullerton had just seven turnovers against UC Riverside on March 10, 2004, at the Big West Conference Tournament.
The Titans close out their trip to the coast on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 7) at 4 p.m. as they travel to San Luis Obispo to take on Cal Poly at Mott Gym.