IRVINE, Calif. - In a battle of the top two Big West teams through three conference games, the UC Irvine Anteaters came out ahead over the Cal State Fullerton Titans women's basketball team 64-to-51 at the Bren Events Center. Â
Both sides were 3-0 in conference coming into Saturday's contest. Although the Anteaters were coming in with a 12-2 overall record and an eleven game winning streak. The Titans were 7-6 coming into the came with a 3-0 record in conference. Â
The Titans had their worst shooting game of the season as they shot just 26.8% (19-for-71) from the floor.  The Titans also shot a season low 4.8% from the 3-point line as they were 1-for-21.  The Anteaters actually made two less field goals than the Titans (17) but were 24-for-34 from the charity stripe.  The Titans shot just 48% (12-for-25) from the free throw line. The Titans forced 23 turnovers against UCI and had 12 steals. Â
Cristina Jones had a monster game leading the Titans with 21 points and a career high 18 rebounds. Â It was her second double-double of the season and her first game with double-digit rebounds.Â
It was a close game after the first quarter as the Anteaters lead 14-11. Â
The Anteaters stretched their lead to 15 points in the second quarter as they took a 33-20 lead into halftime.
Midway through the third quarter, the Titans brought the lead back down to 11 points at 39-28. Â However, the Anteaters quickly erased that to an 18 point lead at 48-30. Â The Anteaters led by 20, 52-32 heading to end of the quarter but
Mimi Moon got fouled on a last second shot and made both free throws to make it a 52-34 game after three quarters.
The Titans hitched a late comeback in the fourth quarter as they outscored UCI 17-to-12 in the final frame.
The Titans cut the lead to 10 points just under the two minute mark after a
Talia Maxwell layup and a quick steal and a layup for
Cristina Jones to make it a 61-51 game.Â
However that's as close as the Titans would get as they couldn't make a basket during their final few possessions.
The Titans will return home next Thursday to host UC San Diego. Â Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.
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.
WATCH THE TITANS ON ESPN+
Titans fans can now watch every home event exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN quality production for all games at Titan Stadium. 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.Â
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Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), X (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (@FullertonTitans). In addition, the women's basketball team has established its own XÂ (@FullertonWBB) and Instagram accounts (@FullertonWBB)
