Trip to Grand Canyon State Awaits Titans
Dec. 3, 2011
FULLERTON, CA -
Complete Weekly Release - Northern Arizona/Arizona State
THIS WEEK...
Cal State Fullerton at Northern Arizona
Dec. 4, 2011 | 1:05 p.m. PT
Rolle Activity Center (1,080)
Live Stats | Audio | Big Sky TV
Cal State Fullerton at Arizona State
Dec. 6, 2011 | 5:30 p.m. PT
Wells Fargo Arena (14,198)
Gametracker | Fox Sports Arizona (Video)
TIP-OFF: The Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team (3-3 overall) packs its bags for a long stretch on the road beginning this week in the Grand Canyon State. The Titans, who play six of their next seven away from home, open on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 4) at 1:05 p.m. PT against Northern Arizona before heading to Tempe to take on Arizona State on Tuesday (Dec. 6) at 5:30 p.m. PT.
TITANS-SUN DEVILS ON FOX (SORT OF...): Cal State Fullerton's battle against Pac-12 power Arizona State will be webcast live on FoxSportsArizona.com. A link will be available at the top of the home page on the day of the game.
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.
NORTHERN ARIZONA BRIEFLY: The Lumberjacks enter Sunday's clash at 4-4 overall with all four of their wins coming at home in Flagstaff, outscoring opponents by an average of 16 points per game at the Rolle Activity Center... NAU fell on the road at San Jose State, 74-64, on Thursday in its last outing... junior guard Amy Patton paces the offense, averaging 12.5 ppg to go with a team-best 7.9 rpg while shooting .350 from the field... junior forward Tyler Stephens-Jenkins has appeared in only three games this season, but is averaging 10.3 ppg, including scoring a team-high 15 points in the loss to the Spartans.
ARIZONA STATE BRIEFLY: The Sun Devils are a potent 6-1 entering Tuesday's clash after downing Eastern Washington and Illinois State by large margins to claim their own tournament title over the weekend... ASU's only loss this season came against No. 13 Rutgers at the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico after Thanksgiving, falling to the Scarlet Knights, 59-52... Kimberly Brandon entered the weekend averaging a team-best 9.8 ppg and 6.6 rpg and continued her strong play during the ASU Classic, scoring a team-high 12 points and nine rebounds vs. Eastern Washington and finished with 16 points on 8-of-10 from the floor against Illinois State in the championship game... The Sun Devils shot better than 43 percent in both games during the tournament - including a 49 percent clip in the championship - and are now shooting .413 from the floor as a team... ASU's defense has held all seven opponents under 60 points this season and three opponents to 50 points or fewer.
SERIES NOTES: The Titans are winless in three meetings with Northern Arizona, but the two teams haven't met since the Lumberjacks posted a 66-61 win in Flagstaff on Nov. 25, 2005... two of the three meetings have been decided by five points with NAU posting its largest win, 68-56, in 2004 at Titan Gym... Fullerton is 0-2 all-time in Flagstaff... The Titans trail in the all-time series with Arizona State, 10-6, but the two former WCAA rivals haven't met since 1995 on a neutral court in Ames, Iowa, with the Sun Devils posting a 59-40 win (their first meeting in 10 years)... Fullerton has lost two straight to ASU dating back to an 86-75 win in Tempe on March 1, 1985 - the last in a string of four consecutive wins for Fullerton following a strech of eight consecutive victories by the Sun Devils... the Titans are 2-4 all-time in Tempe, winning their last two trips.
CONFERENCE CALL: Cal State Fullerton has played 11 of the 12 current members of the newly realigned Pac-12 Conference, posting a 58-78 (.426) record: Arizona (9-5), Arizona State (6-10), California (3-4), Colorado (1-4), Oregon (0-1), Oregon State (0-5), Stanford (9-4), UCLA (18-25), USC (10-18), Utah (1-1), Washington State (1-1)... the Titans haven't faced a Pac-12 program since falling, 74-62, at California last season... Fullerton has lost four straight against the conference dating to an 89-77 win over Colorado on Dec. 7, 2006... The Titans have played all nine current members of the Big Sky Conference, posting a 15-22 (.405) record: Eastern Washington (2-4), Idaho State (0-2), Montana (0-4), Montana State (2-4), Northern Arizona (0-3), Northern Colorado (1-1), Portland State (1-2), Sacramento State (7-1), Weber State (2-1)... Fullerton is 1-0 against the Big Sky this season following a season-opening, 81-64, win at Sacramento State... the Titans have won two straight over current conference members - both over Sacramento State - with the last loss coming at Eastern Washington on Nov. 12, 2010, by an 80-70 score.
MILES DISHES: While struggling shooting the ball last Friday night against No. 24 Gonzaga, the freshman guard did her best to help out the offense in other ways against the Bulldogs, finishing with career high's in assists (7) and minutes played (26) in her first start at the Division I level while also adding three steals. Miles' 19 assists this season (against 13 turnovers) are tied with senior teammate Lauren Chow for the team lead while her 11 steals (1.83 spg) are tops on the squad.
WILLIAMS PROVIDES SPARK OFF THE BENCH: With Mya Olivier sidelines due to injury, freshman Natalie Williams also picked a good night to shine against a nationally ranked opponent, teaming with Lauren Bushong and Jasmine Grayson to provide the Titans with quality minutes in the post against the Bulldogs. Williams, who entered the Gonzaga match with just four points and 10 rebounds total in her first five Division I contests, exploded for a career-high eight points and nine board - including five on the offensive glass - off the bench, hitting 3-of-4 from the floor and a pair of free throws in 21 minutes.
WITH OR WITHOUT YOU: How much do the Titans miss the presence of sophomore Mya Olivier inside on both ends of the floor? With her in the lineup, Fullerton is averaging 72.0 ppg and 45.5 rpg while shooting .438 from the floor, outscoring the opposition by an average of 11.5 ppg while holding them to just 60.5 ppg and .366 from the floor en route to a 3-1 record. Without her in the lineup, the Titans are averaging just 54.0 ppg, 42.5 rpg and shooting .277 from the floor while opponents are averaging 67.0 ppg, 53.5 rpg, and shooting .408 from the field while going 0-2. Olivier has missed the last two games and most of a third after suffering a head injury against SMU on Nov. 25.
BUSHONG BREAKS INTO THE TOP 10: Junior Lauren Bushong notched her 38th career block Friday night against No. 24 Gonzaga, moving her into a tie with Shayla Bradshaw (1992-96) for 10th place on the school's all-time list, needing just seven more to match Andrea Thieme for the No. 9 spot. Last year, 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 -- Megan Richardson and double-digit points. The Titans spectacular scoring guard has reached double digits in points in 70 of her 98 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).
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 with her start against Loyola Marymount on Nov. 21 and, with her 103 career games, stands just 11 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 98 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.
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.
