Titans Fall on the Road to 49ers, 80-62 :: Richie, Chow Lead Fullerton With 15 Points Apiece

Feb. 21, 2008

LONG BEACH, CA - LaToyra Barbee scored a career-high 17 points and led three teammates in double figures as host Long Beach State defeated Cal State Fullerton, 80-62, in a Big West Conference women's basketball match-up on Thursday night at the Walter Pyramid.

The loss was the third straight for the Titans and their fourth in the last five games as they fell to 8-17 overall and 6-7 in Big West play. The 49ers improved to 6-18 overall and 4-8 in league play.

Freshman Ashley Richie led Fullerton with a team-high 15 points on the night as the Titans struggled to find their shooting touch from the field, hitting on just 37 percent from the floor.

Freshman Lauren Chow also finished with 15 points on five three-pointers while junior Toni Thomas added 11 points and seven boards.

Long Beach State, on the other hand, enjoyed a fine shooting night from the floor, hitting on just under 48 percent from the field and leading by as many as 23 in the game as the 49ers reached a season-high in scoring.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Lauren Sims jumpstarted a 10-2 run by the 49ers, snapping a 17-17 tie after a back-and-forth first 10 minutes. Long Beach State didn't let up, closing out the first half on another lengthy 15-4 spurt to head into the locker room up, 46-28.

Fullerton began to chip away at the 49ers' advantage early in the second half, closing the gap back to single digits on a three-pointer by Chow with 13:30 remaining in the contest as part of a 16-7 run by the Titans over the first seven minutes of the period.

However, that would be as close as they would get as a 17-3 run by the 49ers built the lead to 23 points and Long Beach State cruised from there.

Karina Figueroa finished with 13 points while Tyresha Calhoun and Sims each finished with 12 points off the bench for the 49ers, who also held a dominating 46-30 advantage on the boards, including an 18-8 advantage on the offensive end.

Cal State Fullerton returns to Titan Gym this weekend as the Titans play host to UC Riverside on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. as the first game of a doubleheader with the men's team as Fullerton takes on Portland State.