Women's Basketball Falters In Loss To Cal State Fullerton, 54-49

Saturday, January 12

Riverside, CA

5:00 pm

University of California, Riverside

7-7, 0-3

Cal State Fullerton

6-9, 2-1

Team	1	2	F
Cal State Fullerton	20	34	54
UC Riverside	25	24	49

Photo by: Gabriel L. Acosta

Women's Basketball Falters In Loss To Cal State Fullerton, 54-49

1/12/2013 8:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score - Cal State Fullerton, 54, UC Riverside 49

Riverside, CA - The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team enjoyed a 12-point second-half lead against Cal State Fullerton Saturday evening, but could not hold on as the Titans came from behind for the 54-49 victory at the SRC Arena in Big West Conference play.

The Highlanders drop to 7-7 overall and 0-3 in league play, while CSF improves to 6-9, 2-1.

Leading by five to start the second half, UC Riverside quickly went up by double-digits, 30-20, following a Tre'Shonti Nottingham three-pointer and a Brittany Crain jumper after just a minute and 20 seconds into the period. The Highlanders lead grew to as many as 12, 34-22, with 13:24 remaining in the game, but Cal State Fullerton rallied, outscoring UCR 16-4 to tie the game at 38 with 6:33 to go.

The teams traded buckets until the Titans went up by five, 47-42, with 3:37 remaining. UCR cut the lead to one, 48-47, following a Natasha Hadley three-point play with a minute and 24 seconds to go, and again on a Hadley jumper with 46 seconds remaining.

The Titans turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, but the Highlanders misfired on their field goal attempt as CSF took possession of the ball. Fullerton again turned it over with 34 seconds to go, and UCR called timeout with 22 seconds left. Unfortunately, an offensive foul by UCR with seven ticks on the clock gave the Titans the ball.

The Highlanders fouled on the next inbounds play, and Lauren Bushong drained two free throws for Cal State Fullerton to give them a 52-49 lead with six seconds to go. UC Riverside then turned the ball over on the inbounds, and the Titans connected on a layup for the final 54-49 win.

In the first half, the Titans built an early 5-0 lead after 2:02 gone by in the first period, but the Highlanders tied the game at 5-5 en route to a 13-2 run as the lead grew to 13-7 following a Janelle Kearney layup at the 12:19 mark.

Both teams went cold from the floor over the next three minutes, but it was CSF who emerged from the slump scoring 10 straight points taking a 17-15 advantage with 7:13 left in the half. Four consecutive free throws from UC Riverside made it a 19-17 game with 4:11 to go, as the Highlanders concluded the half scoring six of the final eight points for a 25-20 lead heading into the break.

For the game, Nottingham led all players with 16 points while Crain added 11, and Kearney recorded 10 rebounds. Alex Thomas led CSF with 14 points.

UC Riverside shot just 28.6 percent from the floor including 25.0 percent from downtown, while committing 25 turnovers. Cal State Fullerton shot 30.8 percent from the floor and had 24 miscues themselves.

The Highlanders now hit the road for a pair of Big West games starting on Thursday, January 17 at Long Beach State at 7 pm PT in Long Beach, CA.