Northern Arizona's Natalie Metz had a double-double with 15 points and
10 rebounds and the Lumberjacks shot just over 49 percent from the field
to hand host Cal State Fullerton a 68-56 defeat on Friday night at Titan
Gym in front of 112 fans.
The Titans fell to 1-5 overall on the season while NAU improved to 4-1
overall.
Fullerton was led by junior forward Amber Pruitt, who came off the bench
to score a game-high 22 points and grab six rebounds on the night. Pruitt
hit on 10-of-17 from the floor for the game and also had four steals.
The Titans also got a career night from sophomore point guard Audrey Taylor,
who poured in a career high 17 points to go with five assists and five
steals.
Metz, Alyssa Wahl, and Nicky Eason all had 15 points for the Lumberjacks.
Wahl and Eason narrowly missed double-doubles themselves, falling just
one rebound short.
Fullerton grabbed the lead for the first time since the opening basket
when Pruitt hit a short jumper to give the Titans a 12-11 advantage out
of the first media timeout. The lead was short-lived, however, as NAU
exploded for an 11-0 run over the next 3:30 to build a 10-point lead at
22-12 with 7:26 remaining.
Back-to-back buckets by Taylor cut the Titans' deficit to six points,
but a three-pointer by Eason rebuilt the Lumberjacks' lead to nine points
and they headed into the lockerroom up, 31-24, at the break.
Cal State Fullerton kept things close in the opening minutes of the second
half, closing to within six points with just under two minutes gone, but
three-pointers by Metz and Wahl kick-started a 9-2 run for Northern Arizona,
building a 15-point advantage and the Lumberjacks never looked back.
The Titans trimmed the lead to eight points on two occassions in the final
four minutes, but could get no closer.
Fullerton shot just under 38 percent from the field for the game, but
forced NAU into 21 turnovers and tallied 11 steals on the night. The Lumberjacks
outrebounded the Titans, 44-36, for the game – the sixth time Fullerton
has been outrebounded this season. Cal State Fullerton now takes the next two weeks
off in preperation for final exams before returning to the court on Dec.
18 as the Titans head to San Diego State for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
It is the final non-conference game of the season before Fullerton opens
Big West Conference play at home against Cal State Northridge (Dec. 28)
and Pacific (Dec. 30) following the Christmas holiday.
