LONG BEACH, Calif. - The Cal State Fullerton Titans women's basketball team defeated Long Beach State 67-61 on Thursday at the Pyramid to open up Big West play.
The Titans (5-6, 1-0 BWC) won their conference opener for the fourth time under Head Coach
Jeff Harada's tenure and improved to 18-21 in Big West Openers. The Titans defeated Long Beach State for the first time in a conference opening game, after previously being 0-3. Â The Titans also defeated Long Beach State for the first time since January 11th, 2020 and first time at the Pyramid since March 7th, 2019.
The Titans offense got contributions from almost everyone who played in the match but
Fujika Nimmo (15 points, 4 assists, 4 steals),
Gabi Vidmar (14 points, 7 rebounds), and
Eva Levingston (12 points, 7 rebounds) were the leaders of the Titan's offense. Â The Titans shot 41.3% from the field and held the conference's top scoring offense in Long Beach to 34.3% shooting from the field. Â After being outrebounded by 20 rebounds in their last game, the Titans outrebounded the Beach 41-to-40.
The Titans scored the first basket of the game on a basket by
Hope Hassmann before the Beach went on a 10-0 to take a 10-2 lead with 6:53 left in the first quarter. Â The Titans responded with a 13-3 run to finish the quarter and took a 15-13 lead capped off by a last second shot by
Fujika Nimmo to end the period.
In the second quarter, the Titans padded onto their lead after outscoring the Beach 18-to-8 for the period. Â
Allysan Tse led the period with two quick jumpers to put the Titans up 20-15. Â
The Titans stretched their lead to 12 points after a basket by
Eva Levingston to put the Titans on top 31-19. Â The Titans led 33-21 going into the halftime break.
The Titans outscored the Beach 18-to-13 in the third quarter and held a 17-point lead at 51-34. Â After the Beach cut the lead to nine points at the 37-28 mark. Â The Titans got back-to-back three pointers from
Gabi Vidmar and
Kathryn Neff to take a 15-point lead at 43-28.
The Titans were able to stretch their lead to 19 points at 49-30 after a jumper by
Fujika Nimmo.
Heading into the final quarter with a 17-point advantage, it looked like a victory was assured for the Titans. However, Long Beach made it closer than the Titans would've liked in the period. Â The Titans comfortably held a 16-point lead after a turnaround jumper by
Eva Levingston with 2:59 left in the game to take a 63-47 lead.
 However, the Beach were able to rattle off 11 straight  points off four straight Titan turnovers to make it a 5-point game with :28 seconds left. However, the Titans were able to close out the game with
Ashlee Lewis and
Fujika Nimmo making their free-throws to end the game.
The Titans will head home for their next conference match-ups beginning with the University of Hawai'i at home on Saturday. Â The Rainbow Wahine were idle on Thursday night and will be playing just their third game during the month of December on Saturday. Â Tip-off is set for 2:00 PM at the Titan Gym.
SUPPORT THE TITANS!
Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting FullertonTitansTickets.com. The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278-2783 or by email at athletictixs@fullerton.edu. The Ticket Office is located at the Titan House off of Gymnasium Drive at the eastern end of the Intramural Fields and is open from 10 am – 4 pm PT, Monday – Friday.Â
FOLLOW THE TITANS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (@FullertonTitans). In addition, the men's basketball team has established its own Twitter (@FullertonWBB) and Instagram accounts (@FullertonWBB)
WATCH THE TITANS ON ESPN+
Titans fans can now watch home contests exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN quality production for Titan Athletics. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing ESPN quality streams which will allow fans to watch the Titans on ESPN+ for all road conference games.
