Titans Welcome No. 24 Gonzaga to Titan Gym
Nov. 30, 2011
FULLERTON, CA -
Complete Weekly Release - \#24 Gonzaga
THIS WEEK...
\#24 Gonzaga at Cal State Fullerton
Dec. 2, 2011 | 7 p.m. PT
Titan Gym (4,000)
Coverage: Live Audio | Live Video | Live Stats
TIP-OFF: After hitting a Thanksgiving holiday speed bump in Dallas last weekend that derailed its best start in 15 years, the Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team (3-2 overall) looks to get back on track against a national power this weekend at home as the Titans play host to seven-time defending West Coast Conference champion Gonzaga on Friday night (Dec. 2) at 7 p.m.
LOOKING AHEAD: Following Friday night's game against the Bulldogs, the Titans will immediately return to the road beginning on Sunday (Dec. 4) as they head to the Grand Canyon State to take on Northern Arizona in Flagstaff before heading to Tempe for a match-up against Arizona State on Tuesday (Dec. 6).
CH-CH-CH-CHANGES: For our Arizona faithful, the game time for Fullerton's contest at Northern Arizona on Dec. 4 has been moved to 1:05 PST.
IN THE POLLS: Gonzaga enters the weekend ranked No. 24 in the nation according to the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and is the first team receiving votes (73) in this week's Associated Press Top 25 - just four votes behind No. 25-ranked Vanderbilt.
VERSUS THE TOP 25: Gonzaga marks the first nationally ranked opponent for the Cal State Fullerton women's basketball program since the Titans travelled to Norman, Okla., and lost to No. 14/15 Oklahoma on Dec. 30, 2009, by the score of 95-76... the Bulldogs are the first ranked team to visit Titan Gym since Vanderbilt on Dec. 4, 2008, as the then-No. 16 ranked Commodores handed the Titans an 83-67 defeat... Fullerton has lost its last six consecutive games against teams either ranked or receiving votes in either poll dating back to a 68-65 win over Idaho (receiving votes in the Associated Press poll) on Jan. 24, 2004, in Moscow, Idaho... the Titans have lost their last 20 meetings with top 25 foes since posting a 75-63 victory over No. 24 (Associated Press) Long Beach State on Jan. 21, 1991... Overall, Fullerton is 11-90 against nationally ranked competition dating to the 1977 season... the Titans have not been listed among the top 25 since Feb. 4, 1991, breaking into the Associated Press poll at No. 24 that week.
WELCOME BACK!: Cal State Fullerton Kodak All-American and the school's all-time leading scorer, Eugenia Miller, returns to her alma mater on Friday night and will be honored for her contributions to the Titans' women's basketball program during their contest against No. 24 Gonzaga. One of the most prolific basketball players, male or female, in the history of the university, Miller continues to stand as the only player in school history to score more than 2,000 points and grab more than 1,000 rebounds in a career, continuing to hold nine career and 11 single-season marks. A three-time All-Big West Conference First-Team honoree and the league's Player of the Year as a senior, Miller helped put Fullerton women's basketball on the map during her stellar four-year career from 1987-91, leading the Titans to their only two NCAA Tournament appearances in 1989 and 1991 and stands as one of only two women's basketball players to have their number retired at Cal State Fullerton.
BE A FOLLOWER: Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (CSUF.Athletics), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) and Vimeo.com (vimeo.com/fullertontitans). In addition, the women's basketball team has established its own official Facebook fan page, just search for Cal State Fullerton Women's Basketball.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? GOOD!: Thanks to a partnership with Arizona-based Stretch Internet, select Cal State Fullerton women's basketball contests will be broadcast live over the Internet at FullertonTitans.com. To access the links, click on the headphones icon in the upper right-hand corner of FullertonTitans.com.
I SEE YOU: For the sixth consecutive season, live streaming video for all of Cal State Fullerton's home regular season contests and selected road games will be available (on a subscription basis) live over the Internet courtesy the Big West TV platform. For a monthly subscription of \$9.95 or an annual subscription of \$79.95, fans can catch all the exclusive action from the comfort of their home computers. For more information, please visit www.BigWest.org/TV or access the video player at www.fansonly.com/schools/bigw/allaccess/index.html.
I NEED STATS, STAT!: For the third consecutive season, Cal State Fullerton men's and women's basketball will feature live stats via CBS College Sports' Gametracker interface for all of the Titans' home games as well as select road contests. Links will be available on both the men and women's basketball schedule pages at FullertonTitans.com.
GONZAGA BRIEFLY: The Bulldogs enter the weekend with a 3-1 overall record after posting a Thanksgiving-weekend victory over Pacific Northwest rival Portland State on Nov. 27 by the score of 99-69... Gonzaga has also posted wins over Hofstra (101-88) and Idaho (91-42) with its only loss to No. 5 Stanford, 76-61, in a rematch of last year's "Elite Eight" match up won by the Cardinal... The Bulldogs will travel to Pullman and face-off against Washington State on Wednesday (Nov. 30) before heading to Southern California... senior Kayla Standish leads a quartet of Bulldogs averaging double figures, averaging 18.8 points per game and shooting .534 from the floor in four starts... Katelan Redmon (14.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, .595 FG%), Haiden Palmer (11.8 ppg, .409 FG%), and Kelly Bowen (10.0 ppg, .533 FG%) join Standish in double figures, leading a potent offense that is averaging 88.0 ppg and shooting .478 from the field while outscoring opponents by an average of 19.3 points per contest... Head Coach Kelly Graves is in his 12th season at the helm of the Bulldogs, leading them to seven consecutive West Coast Conference titles, four NCAA appearances, and three WNIT berths.
SERIES NOTES: Cal State Fullerton trails in the all-time series with Gonzaga, 3-2, as the Bulldogs have pulled off three-straight victories, including last year's 101-52 victory in Spokane... the Titans are 1-1 at home against Gonzaga, posting an 80-57 win in 1991 and falling, 75-57, in 2002... last year's 49-point loss to the Bulldogs is tied for the fifth-worst defeat in school history.
CONFERENCE CALL: Cal State Fullerton is 36-52 (.409) against the current West Coast Conference alignment, including a 2-0 mark this year following wins over Pepperdine on 16 and LMU on Nov. 21.
RICHARDSON EARNS ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Senior guard Megan Richardson powered Fullerton's offense last weekend during the Titans' trip to Dallas, averaging 19.0 ppg and shooting .437 (14-for-32) from the field in the team's two games against host SMU and Tennessee State to earn a spot on the five-player all-tournament team at the Hoops for the Cure Tournament. Richardson, who has reached double figures in each of her last three contests and in four of Fullerton's five games overall this season, netted a season-high 20 points against the Mustangs and followed that up 24 hours later with an 18-point night against the Tigers.
NEXT UP - Charlee Underwood: Richardson's big weekend cemented her hold on the No. 9 spot on the school's all-time scoring list, but the senior is far from done moving up that chart, standing just 50 points shy of former Titan standout Charlee Underwood, who ranks eighth with 1,382 career points from 2003-07.
20-SOMETHING: Richardson's season-high 20-point explosion against SMU marked the senior's 20th career 20-point game - accounting for nearly a third of her 69 career double-digit scoring performances.
STEPPING IN: With sophomore Mya Olivier out because of a head injury suffered against SMU, junior Lauren Bushong stepped into the starting lineup for the first time this season against Tennessee State, finishing with six points and tying for team-high honors with six rebounds against the Tigers in 12 minutes. With Olivier day-to-day, Bushong and sophomore Jasmine Grayson will attempt to fill the void as Grayson also contributed six rebounds and a pair of blocks against Tennessee State.
BUSHONG BLOCKS BUNCHES: Bushong's season-best three blocks against SMU in the Titans' tournament opener last weekend brought her career total to 37 swats in her two-plus seasons at Fullerton, placing her just one block shy of moving into the top 10 on the school's all-time list. Bushong trails Shayla Bradshaw's 38 career blocks from 1992-96 for the No. 10 spot and needs only eight more to tie Andrea Thieme for the No. 9 spot. As a sophomore, Bushong finished with a career-high 29 blocks - good for No. 8 on Fullerton's single-season list.
DOUBLE-DIGIT DOMINATION: You know the old saying, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes?" We'd like to add a third -- senior Megan Richardson and double-digit points. The Titans spectacular scoring guard has reached double digits in points in 69 of her 97 career games (71 percent), including 20 career 20-point contests and a 33-point effort against Cal Poly on Jan. 13, 2011. She is one of only three active Fullerton players with at least 10 career double-digit games (Lauren Chow and Mya Olivier) and is one of two active Titans who have reached 20 points in their collegiate careers (Chow).
ON THE RIGHT FOOT: It is often said that it is not how you start, but how you finish. Fullerton, however, will take every win they can get as the Titans opened the season with a winning record in the month of November for the first time since 1996-97 (2-0 overall) and matched last season's start with three wins in the first month of the year. Prior to that, Fullerton hadn't won three games in November since 1982 when the Titans opened the first month of the season with a 4-0 record.
THANKS, DECEMBER, YOU'RE NO HELP: Cal State Fullerton's road woes continued over the weekend as the Titans dropped a pair of games away from home, including a 12-point loss to host SMU at Moody Coliseum. Fullerton, which has lost its last seven consecutive road contests dating back to a 77-65 win at Long Beach State on Jan. 19 last season, gets no relief from the road in the month of December as the Titans are slated to play six of their eight games this month away from home.
IRON WOMEN: Senior Lauren Chow became only the 34th player in the history of the Cal State Fullerton women's basketball program to appear in 100 career games, reaching the milestone last week with her start against Loyola Marymount and, with her 102 career games, stands just 12 games shy of the top 10 in that category in school history. Fellow senior Megan Richardson is also on the cusp of the milestone, entering the weekend with 97 career appearances. Last season, Ashley Richie set the all-time record with 122 career games while teammate Lyndsey Grove was right behind her, finishing her career with 119 appearances to both break Genia Miller's previous record of 118 games that had stood since 1991.
