Cal State Fullerton sophomore Amber Pruitt scored
18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while leading two other Titans in double
figures as Fullerton downed Point Loma Nazarene, 74-55, in an exhibition
contest on Thursday night at Titan Gym.
The Titans finished the exhibition portion of their schedule with a 1-1
record, falling to Love & Basketball by six points, 79-73, back on
Nov. 2.
Senior Rochelle Ortega (Fresno, Calif.) and sophomore Tessa Moon (San
Francisco, Calif.) were also in double figures with 17 and 14 points respectively.
Ortega added seven rebounds while shooting 8-of-12 from the field. Freshman
India McDaniel (Sacramento, Calif.) had eight assists and made her only
shot of the contest.
The Sea Lions were led by junior guard Jessica Mercado, who scored 29
of Point Loma’s 55 points on the night. Mercado was 9-of-19 from
the field and 11-of-13 from the free throw line, while the rest of the
team shot just 11-for-34 (.324) from the field for the game.Ciara Carl
was the team’s next leading scorer with seven and Kate Alderson led
the team with eight rebounds.
Fullerton led wire-to-wire, amassing a 20-point lead at 28-8 in the first
10 minutes of the game, and leading by as many as 23 points in the first
half en route to a 36-20 advantage at the half. The Titans shot just under
50 percent in the opening period and .524 from the floor for the game.
Point Loma got no closer than two points twice in the opening two minutes
of the game.
Pruitt was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field, the second Titan in as many
exhibition games to hit all of her attempts from the field. Ortega was
7-for-7 from the floor against Love & Basketball.
Cal State Fullerton opens the 2003-04 regular season on Friday (Nov. 21)
at 7 p.m. against Fordham University of the Atlantic 10 Conference at
Titan Gym.
