HENDERSON, NV. - The No.5 Cal State Fullerton Titans women's basketball team defeated the No. 8Â CSUN Matadors 80-65 on Wednesday afternoon in the Big West Championship First Round hosted by Lee's Family Forum.
The Titans improved to 18-13 overall for the season. The Titans will take on the No. 4 University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine in the Quarterfinals tomorrow at 12:00 p.m.
It was a close game with the Matadors for most of the game until the fourth quarter when the Matadors ran into foul trouble and the Titans were sent to the line nine times during the final frame. The Titans shot just 32.9% from the floor (23-70) but they benefited from 43 free throws where they went 31-for-43 from the line (72.1%). The Titans had their second most rebound output of the season, hauling in 56 boards. The Titans forced 28 turnovers from CSUN and had 15 steals for the game.
Cristina Jones led the team with 32 points and 14 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season. It was the second most points she scored of the season. The Titans had double figures from
Dylan Swindle (13) and
Talia Maxwell (10). Â
The Titans jumped to an early lead over the Matadors in the first quarter. They also benefited from a 2-0 start after
Dylan Swindle made two free throws before the game due to an administrative technical foul against CSUN for not having the starters entered in the official book. They led by 11 points before the Matadors began chipping away at their lead.Â
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The Matadors cut the cap to 3 points with 34 seconds left before
Maxine Sutisna hit a half court jumper to make it a 27-20 lead after one.
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The Titans maintained a single digit lead throughout the second quarter.  CSUN cut it down to as much three points before the Titans extended it six points before the end the half.  The Titans took a 45-39 lead into halftime.
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The Titans started the third quarter with a 10 point lead (49-39) before the Matadors once again began slowly chipping away at the lead. Â The Matadors outscored the Titans 12-to-9 for the quarter as the Titans shot a poor 3-for-19 from the floor in the third. Â The Matadors scored the final four points over two minutes in the third quarter to make it a 54-51 game heading into the final frame.
The Matadors cut the lead to one point to start the fourth quarter before the Titans regained some separation. Â
Cristina Jones made six straight points to put the Titans ahead 60-53 with 7:16 left in regulation. Â
The Matadors cut the lead to 4 points with 4:15 left before the Matadors started racking up the fouls. Â The Titans went shot 18 free throws in the fourth quarter with 12 of them in the final four minutes. Â
Talia Maxwell but the bow tie on the game with a three point basket with 18 seconds left to put the Titans ahead 80-65.Â
The Titans will take on the University of Hawai'i tomorrow in the No. 4 vs No. 5 quarterfinal match up.  The Titans split the series against the Rainbow Wahine after winning 82-80 at home on December 6th before falling 67-49 in Hawai'i on February 28th.Â
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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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