Cal State Fullerton had four players in the double figures, led by Rochelle
Ortega's game-high 22 points, to lift the Titans to their first victory
in the Big West Conference Tournament since 1995, downing UC Riverside,
71-56, on Wednesday afternoon at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Fullerton improved to 9-19 overall on the season and will meet No. 3-seeded
Pacific on Thursday at Noon. The Highlanders finished the year 7-21 overall.
The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the Titans dating back
to the semifinal round of the tournament in 1995, the same year of Fullerton's
last tournament win, a 97-86 victory over UC Santa Barbara.
It is the third time in the program's history that Cal State Fullerton
has advanced to the second round.
Ortega hit on 9-of-21 from the floor and grabbed seven rebounds, two blocked
shots, and three steals while playing all 40 minutes. It was her second
20-point game of the season, one away from tying her career high of 23
set this season at Cal Poly on Feb. 28.
Sophomore Amber Pruitt added 17 points and five boards, freshman Charlee
Underwood had 16 points and seven rebounds, and senior Tamara Quinn added
12 points and six boards to go with five assists.
UC Riverside was led by Crystal Harris, who had 18 points in 40 minutes.
The Highlanders' leading scorer, Cassandra Reeves, was held to just 13
points, while Astrid Spegel had 10 points and eight boards. Jodi Reber
grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds to lead all players.
Trailing 50-48 with 7:04 left in the contest, a Charlee Underwood three-pointer
put the Titans in the lead for good at 51-50 with 6:44 left. Underwood,
who finished with 16 points and four steals, including 5-of-11 from three-point
range, knocked down two treys in the key run, while Tamara Quinn added
four points and Amber Pruitt five. The Titans led 65-52 before UCR could
find the basket on a layup by Crystal Harris at 1:22 to cut the deficit
to 65-54.
Fullerton led by as many as nine points (24-15) in the first half before
the Highlanders cut the deficit to 33-31 at the half. Harris, Spegel and
Reeves all had eight first half points for UCR, which hung tough by hitting
all nine of its free throws in the stanza. Ortega had 14 first half points
for the Titans, including the go-ahead bucket with 0:56 left in the half.
