FULLERTON, Calif. - The Cal State Fullerton Titans clinched their return to the Big West Tournament on Thursday after defeating Long Beach State 70-62 at home at Titan Gym.
The Titans (15-9, 11-3 BWC) swept Long Beach State for the first time since the 2010 and 2011 season. Â
Kya Pearson led the Titans with 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 steals. Â Pearson shot 15-for-16 from the free throw line for the game. Â
Talia Maxwell had 12 points,
Maddy Tauro had 12 points, and
Nicole Steiner had 10 points and 7 rebounds in her first action since January 10th.
The Titans won despite shooting only 31.4 % (22-for-70) and making just one three pointer. Â The Titans shot 78.1% (25-for-32) at the charity stripe. Â The Titans dominated the Beach on the boards with a 47-32 advantage. Â The Titans forced 25 turnovers and had 15 steals. Â
The Titans scored the first two baskets of the game before Long Beach took the lead midway through the first quarter.Â
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The Beach jumped to a 6 point lead late in the quarter before
Nicole Steiner made his first bucket in nearly five weeks when she finished a 3-point play. Â
The Beach led 21-16 after the first quarter.  Both sides scored 12 points each in the second quarter as the Beach took a 33-28 lead into halftime.
To start the second half,
Cristina Jones made two quick layups to cut the deficit to one point (33-32). Â However, the Beach scored 7 straight points to gain an eight point lead at 40-32.
The Titans then went on a 12-1 scoring run over the final four minutes and led the third quarter ahead 46-42.Â
Jana Falsdottir kicked off the run for the Titans after getting a steal and a bucket.
Both teams traded baskets early to start the fourth quarter before
Madelynn Muniz hit a three-pointer to give the Titans a 6-point lead (51-45) with 8:45 left in the game.
The Titans then stretched their lead up to 11 points as
Kya Pearson and
Talia Maxwell combined for 13 straight points.
The Titans kept their lead around 10 points or more as Long Beach resorted to fouling over the final minutes but
Kya Pearson and
Maddy Tauro went a perfect 8-for-8 from the line after those desperation fouls from the Beach.
The Titans will ride their seven game winning streak into Saturday's match against second place UC Irvine.  The Anteaters (11-2) have a lead over the Titans in the standings after playing one less game and also winning the first game against the Titans in January. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. at Titan Gym. Â
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)
