Cal State Fullerton junior Heather Hansen scored a game-high 17 points
and grabbed six rebounds to pace three Titans in double-figures as they
defeated visiting Cal State Northridge, 64-55, in a Big West Conference
women’s basketball contest on Thursday night in front of 124 fans
at Titan Gym.
Cal State Fullerton improved to 3-14 overall and notched its first Big
West Conference win on the season to improve to 1-5. Cal State Northridge
fell to 1-15 overall and 1-5 in the Big West.
For the Titans, the victory snapped a nine-game overall losing skid and
a 13-game losing streak in conference play dating back to a Feb. 4 victory
over Idaho on the road last season. It was also the first home conference
victory for Cal State Fullerton dating back to the 1999-00 season, when
the Titans defeated New Mexico State in overtime on Jan. 16, 2000 –
a streak of 16 consecutive games.
Hansen shot 7-for-14 from the floor for the game off the bench for Cal
State Fullerton to go with a block and a steal in 26 minutes of play.
Sophomore Tamara Quinn added 12 points off the bench to go with a pair
of steals while junior Allyson Alhadeff, who was making her first start
since Nov. 23, chipped in a career-high 11 points and six rebounds to
go with a career-best two blocks and two steals. She also shot 5-for-8
from the floor for the game.
The Matadors were led by sophomore Jenny Shetters, who scored 17 points
and added four rebounds on the night. No other Cal State Northridge player
was in double figures.
The Titans led by as many as 11 points in the first half, scoring seven
of the first nine points and 11 of the first 15. The Matadors closed to
within four points at 11-7 with 13:02 remaining, but could not get any
closer as Cal State Fullerton used a 9-2 run to up the lead to 11 points
with 9:50 remaining in the period.
Both teams traded baskets to open the second half and the Matadors, who
trailed by 13 at one point in the half, closed to within just five points
at 49-44 thanks to a three-pointer by Karolin Bidrussian with 7:19 remaining
in the game. However, Cal State Fullerton put things away thanks to outstanding
free throw shooting, hitting on 9-of-11 from the charity stripe in the
final five minutes to keep the game out of reach.
The Titans shot well from the floor for the game, hitting on 45 percent
of their shots while holding the Matador offense to just 37 percent shooting
from the floor for the game. Cal State Fullerton also held the advantage
on the boards, 37-32, while notching five team blocks to Northridge’s
zero.
Fullerton returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 26) as the Titans take on
the Pacific Tigers at Titan Gym. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
