NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - After losing their last two conference games, the Cal State Fullerton Titans women's basketball team righted the ship against the CSUN Matadors on Saturday afternoon picking up a 73-58 road win.
The Titans improved to 8-8 overall and 4-2 in conference play.  A dominant second quarter led gave the Titans a 39-18 lead heading into halftime.  The Titans were outscored 40-34 in the second half but were able to outlast the slight Matador comeback.
Cristina Jones led the Titans as she once again flirted with a triple double. Â She had 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 steals. Â Jana Faldottir had 11 points off the bench,
Kya Pearson and
Maddy Tauro both had 10 points as well.  The Titans shot 34.3 % from the floor (24-for-70) but were an efficient 22-for-30 from the free throw line.  The Matadors committed 43 turnovers while the Titans had 25 steals and 36 points off turnovers.Â
The 43 turnovers committed by CSUN was tied for the third most turnovers committed by a NCAA Division 1 team this season.  Michigan forced 45 turnovers against Canisius (11/04/26). Siena forced 44 turnovers against Niagara (12/19/25) and Ohio State forced 43 turnovers against Niagara as well (11/30/25). The 25 steals that the Titans defense accumulated was tied for the 5th most in a single game this season between NCAA Division 1 teams.  Notre Dame had 30 steals against Akron (11/12) and 28 steals against Bellarmine (12/21).  LSU had 27 steals against Alabama State (12/28). Vanderbilt had 26 steals against Stonehill (12/28).  The Titans tied with UCONN who had 25 steals against Loyola Chicago (11/12).
The Titans led for most of the first quarter as they got the Matadors to commit 11 turnovers in the first quarter alone.
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After jumping to an 11-5 lead midway through the first, the Matadors took a 14-13 lead over the Titans with 1:39 left in the first. Â The Titans took the back lead 16-14 before the end of the quarter on a pair of free throws from
Nicole Steiner.
The Titans completely dominated the second quarter as they outscored CSUN 23-to-4. Â The Titans scored the first 8 points of the quarter jump to a 10 point lead (24-14).
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After a pair of CSUN free throws, the Titans once again went on a 15-2 scoring run the rest of the quarter to take a 39-18 lead into the halftime break.
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The Titans outscored CSUN 21-to-20 in the third quarter. Â The Titans kept their 20-point advantage for most of the quarter and even took a 26-point lead at 59-33 with 0:55 left in the third after a Muniz layup. Â The Matadors cut the gap down to 22 points to make it a 60-38 game at the end of the third quarter.
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The Matadors outscored the Titans 20-14 in the final frame. Â The Titans kept the lead hovering around 20 points midway through the fourth quarter before the Titans started missing baskets. Â CSUN went on a 10-0 to cut the lead to 12 points at 66-54 with 4:44 left. Â However, the spark plug to the Matadors attack Mariona Cos-Morales fouled out on two back-to-back fouls in the backcourt and the Titans hit a couple free throws to regain a 15-point lead.
The Titans were able to hang on to the 15-point lead over the Matadors to secure their fourth conference win of the season.
The Titans will return home for two games next week at Titan Gym. Â The Titans host UC Davis on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m.
