Women's Basketball Can't Hold On To Lead, Falls 60-57 At Cal State Fullerton

Thursday, February 6

Fullerton, CA

7:00 pm

UC Riverside

4-17, 0-8

Cal State Fullerton

8-12, 4-3

Team	1	2	F
UC Riverside	36	21	57
Cal State Fullerton	18	42	60

Photo by: Carlos Puma

Women's Basketball Can't Hold On To Lead, Falls 60-57 At Cal State Fullerton

2/6/2014 7:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Fullerton, CA - The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team could not hold on to an 18-point first-half lead Thursday at Cal State Fullerton, falling 60-57 to the Titans in Big West Conference action. The Highlanders fall to 4-17 overall and 0-8 in league play, while CSF improves to 8-12, 4-3. Box Score.

UCR led 36-18 at the half, thanks in part to 75 percent shooting from three-point range, while holding the Titans to just 24 percent from the field. In the second period, however, CSF scored nine straight en route to outscoring UC Riverside 42-21 to earn the come-from-behind victory.

With 4:31 to go, Cal State Fullerton turned a 57-51 deficit into a 59-57 advantage, as Alex Thomas scored all eight of the Titans points during that run. UCR failed to make a field goal during that time, but had an opportunity to tie the game with less than a minute to play.

The Highlanders misfired on a jumper with 12 seconds to go, however, and needing to stop the clock, fouled with 6.9 seconds remaining. CSF hit only 1-of-2 from the foul line to make it a one-possession game, 60-57. The Highlanders were fouled on the inbound with 4.6 seconds, but the Titans had fouls to give, and UCR was down to the last shot.

Akilah Martin attempted a three-pointer at the buzzer, but the shot was off its mark as time expired, giving the Titans the win.

In the first period, UCR came out of the gate strong taking an 8-0 lead following back-to-back three-pointers from Brittany Crain and Simone Decoud, and a DeCoud jumper. The Highlanders pushed the margin to nine, 13-4 at the 14:18 mark, after hitting 5-of-7 from the floor for a sizzling 71 percent.

Leading 16-8, UC Riverside went on a 10-0 run over a two minute span to go up by its largest advantage, 18, 26-8, with 8:23 left in the half. The Titans rallied, scoring seven of the next nine points to cut the lead to 13, 28-15, and again at 30-17 with 2:23 on the clock.

The Highlanders countered using consecutive three-pointers from Martin and Tahvia Morrison to close out the half on a 6-1 run, and take a 36-18 advantage in to the break.

Cal State Fullerton made a push to open the second half, scoring nine straight as the lead was cut to 36-27 after four minutes of action. A DeCoud jumper stopped the bleeding, but the Titans continued their onslaught, scoring 16 more to the Highlanders seven. DeCoud scored all nine points initially for UC Riverside in the period, while the rest of the team was a combined 0-for-6.

CSF cut the margin to two, 45-43, at the 10 minute mark, but UCR responded over the next two minutes with consecutive Natasha Hadley jumpers, and a Martin layup as the lead was back to eight, 51-43.

The teams' traded points over the next few minutes as the lead fluctuated between five and seven points until the Titans closed out the game with their 9-0 run.

CSF's Thomas scored 24 points to lead all players, while Kathleen Iwuoha added 18 points. DeCoud scored 16 to lead UC Riverside, while Martin had 13, Crain added 12, and Hadley had 10.

For the sixth time this season, and the fourth in Big West action, the Highlanders outshot their opponents in a loss: UCR hit 39.0 percent from the field while the Titans shot 35.6 percent.

The Highlanders now remain on the road this weekend, heading to Long Beach State on Saturday, February 8 for a 4 pm PT tip at the Walter Pyramid.