Cal State Fullerton senior guard Tamara Quinn became the 14th player in
Titans women’s basketball history to eclipse 1,000 career points,
scoring 24 on the night to lead Fullerton back from an eight-point second
half deficit and hold-off visiting Cal Poly, 83-81, in a Big West Conference
women’s basketball match-up on Thursday night at Titan Gym.
The Titans won their third consecutive game in improving to 5-12 overall,
5-3 in the Big West Conference. It is the longest winning streak for Cal
State Fullerton since it won three in a row midway through the 1997-98
season. Cal State Fullerton has won its last three games by a combined
six points. The five conference victories also match all of last season’s
total when the Titans finished 5-11 in league play.
Cal Poly fell to 8-9 overall, 4-4 in the Big West, losing for the ninth
time this year on the road.
Quinn, who finished with 24 points and nine rebounds to lead all scorers,
now has 1,002 career points, becoming the first Titan to that mark since
1999 when Andrea Thieme accomplished the feat. Quinn passed Erin Whiteside
for No. 14 on the all-time list and stands just two points shy of tying
Joey Ray (1988-92) for 13th place.
Quinn led three other Titans in double figures as Charlee Underwood came
off the bench to contribute 11 points (nine of those coming in Fullerton’s
furious second-half rally), while Rochelle Ortega and Amber Pruitt each
added 10.
Cal Poly’s Catrina Taylor and Katy Paterson led the team with 14
points apiece, while Courtney Uphoff and Kianey Givens-Davis added 12
points each.
Trailing by one point with 1:42 remaining in the game, Ortega gave the
Titans the lead at 80-79 with a layup and 1:20 remaining on the clock.
She followed that :23 seconds later with a pair of free throws to put
Fullerton up by three points, but the Mustangs battled right back. Givens-Davis
made a wide-open layup in the lane, cutting the advantage to one point
once again with :47 left on the clock.
The Mustangs had a chance to take the lead moments later after a missed
three-pointer by Quinn, but Courtney Uphoff’s shot attempt underneath
the basket was blocked and controlled by Cynthia Sorrell. Underwood then
took the pass and drove the ball up the right sideline, only to be fouled
by Sparkle Anderson with less than :03 remaining in the game.
Underwood hit the front end of the 1-and-1, but missed the second shot,
which was rebounded by Givens-Davis. The Mustangs tried to get a shot
off, but the long pass attempt by Givens-Davis was tipped in the back
court and intercepted by the Titans’ Meghann Keathley to secure the
victory.
Fullerton led by as many as seven points in the opening period, but a
21-6 run over a span of 6:32 gave Cal Poly at 10-point lead at 36-26 with
3:28 remaining in the first half. The Titans whittled away at the lead,
closing to within two points with :33 remaining thanks to a 10-2 run of
its own. Two free throws by the Mustangs’ Paterson gave Cal Poly
a 40-36 lead at the break.
Cal Poly outrebounded the Titans 38-30, including a 24-11 advantage in
the first half. Fullerton shot 50 percent from the field for the game,
including a .577 clip in the second half to spark the comeback, and hit
10-of-19 (.526) from three-point range. The Mustangs hit on just under
46 percent from the floor for the game.
The Titans return to action on Saturday night (Jan. 31) to take on defending
conference champion UC Santa Barbara at Titan Gym at 7 p.m.
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