Idaho's Emily Fautholt, who entered the night as the nation's leading
scorer, put up 39 points and the Vandals were a perfect 17-for-17 from
the free throw line en route to a 78-69 victory over host Cal State Fullerton
in a Big West Conference women's basketball match-up on Thursday night
at Titan Gym.
Cal State Fullerton fell to 6-16 overall, 6-7 in Big West
play. Idaho, which entered the night in second place in the conference,
improved to 18-5 overall, 10-4 in league action.
Almost the entire Vandals' offense ran through Faurholt, who almost had
as many field goal attempts (24) as the rest of her teammates combined
(29). She finished 13-for-24 from the floor, including four three pointers
and 9-for-9 from the free throw line. Faurholt was joined in double figures
by Heather Thoelke, who added 12 points and four steals.
Fullerton was led by freshman Charlee Underwood's career-high 23 points
and four rebounds in 40 minutes of play. She has scored in double figures
in each of her last three games, averaging 18.0 ppg in that stretch. Amber
Pruitt came off the bench to add 15 points and seven boards while Rochelle
Ortega had 10 points and four rebounds to go with four assists.
The two teams traded the lead early on the first half before Idaho exploded,
closing the period with a 15-2 run over the final 5:29, including holding
the Titans scoreless for a stretch of 4:45 in that span before a lay-up
by Pruitt brought Fullerton wo within five points. A Faurholt jumper gave
the Vandals a 38-31 lead at the break.
A three-pointer by Idaho's Taylor Benson to open the second have gave
the Vandals a 10-point advanatge, but the Titans ran off a run of its
own, scoring the next 10 points to tie the game at 41-41 and taking the
lead 30 seconds later on a three-pointer by Jaime Wagner.
Fullerton trailed by one point at 49-48 with 14:13 remaining, but Idaho
kicked things up a notch, slowly pulling away from the Titans and building
a seven-point lead with 5:30 remaining. The Vandals outscored Fullerton,
9-4, over the final five minutes to clinch the victory.
Idaho shot just under 51 percent from the field for the game and assisted
on 18 of its 27 made baskets. Cal State Fullerton held a 37-27 advantage
on the boards – only the fourth time in 22 games this season that
the Titans have outrebounded an opponent.
Fullerton finished by shooting a solid .431 from the field, including
hitting eight three pointers, but managed to get to the line only seven
times, making five.
The Titans return to action on Saturday night (Feb. 21) when they host
Utah State at 7 p.m. at Titan Gym.
