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Late
Spurt Pushes Titans Over Vandals Jan. 23, 2003 – Fullerton, Calif. Box Score Cal State Fullerton junior Rochelle Ortega notched her second double-double of the season and senior Heather Hansen snapped out of her scoring drought in a big way with 19 points as the host Titans pulled away late to defeat the visiting Idaho Vandals, 70-55, in a Big West Conference women’s basketball game on Thursday night at Titan Gym. Fullerton snapped a four-game losing streak in improving to 4-12 overall and 2-3 in the Big West Conference. The two conference victories match last season’s total with 11 games remaining in the year. Idaho fell to 5-12, 3-4 in league play. The Titan offense, which had averaged just 43 points per game in their last four contests, exploded on the night, hitting 41.5 percent from the field – including 47 percent from the floor in the first half. It was the first time that Cal State Fullerton had scored 70 points-or-more since putting up 84 points in an overtime victory against Cal Poly on Jan. 2. Hansen also had nine rebounds and three assists to go with her 19 points – missing her career high in scoring by a single point. It was the first double-digit performance for her since the Cal Poly victory. Hansen was 6-for-6 from the field in the first half and finished 9-of-13 from the floor. Ortega added 14 points and a career- and game-high 15 rebounds. Idaho was led by Alyssa Erickson, who had a game-high 21 points (12 of those in the first half) on 6-of-13 shooting. Autumn Fielding was also in double-digits for the Vandals with 13 points. The Fullerton defense also had a big night, forcing Idaho into 20 turnovers, leading to 16 points for the home team. The Titans also outrebounded the Vandals, 47-35, including 19-11 on the offensive boards, and the Fullerton bench outscored its Idaho counterparts, 20-0. Fullerton led by as many as 15 points late in the first half, going on an 11-2 run after Idaho took the early lead on a three-point play by Erickson. The Vandals pulled to within three points with 9:40 remaining, but the Titans ran off a 15-5 run over the next 4:17 to go up by 10 with 5:23 remaining in the period. Both teams traded baskets from there on out as Cal State Fullerton went in at the half ahead, 37-24. A quick 8-0 run by the Titans opened up their biggest lead of the game at 21 points just 2:49 into the period, but the Vandals would continue to chip away as Fullerton went cold from the floor. A 12-2 run by Idaho cut the lead to 11 points with 14:00 remaining and, after the Titans had built the lead back to 15 points, another 13-4 run by the Vandals got them to within six points at 57-51 with 5:16 remaining in the contest. However, Fullerton turned out to be too tough, as a short jumper by Hansen ignited the Titan offense, which scored 13 of the final 17 points – including 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the final minute – to ice the game. Cal State Fullerton returns to action next Thursday (Jan. 30) as they hit the road for the fourth time in the last five games, taking on Cal State Northridge at 7 p.m. The Titans will then travel to Pacific on Saturday (Feb. 1) to take on the Tigers, also at 7 p.m. ####
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