Feb. 28, 2008

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, CA - Cal State Fullerton junior Toni Thomas tallied her second consecutive double-double with a game-high 26 points and 10 rebounds to help lift the visiting Titans to a 55-45 Big West Conference women's basketball victory over Cal State Northridge on Thursday night at The Matadome.

The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Fullerton, which improved to 9-18 overall and 7-8 in league play. The Matadors lost their second straight game in falling to 1-23 overall and remained winless in conference play at 0-13.

Thomas, the Big West Conference's leading scorer entering this week's games, hit 8-of-12 from the floor, including a trio of three-pointers, and 7-of-8 from the line to go with five steals in 30 minutes of play. It was her fourth double-double of the year and her third in the team's last five games.

Freshman Ashley Richie was the only other Titan in double figures, scoring 12 points to go with four assists and four steals in the victory.

Fullerton trailed by as many as seven points in the opening minutes of the first half, but rallied back with a vengeance as seven consecutive points by Thomas jumpstarted a 20-6 run over the final 11 minutes of the first half as the Titans took a 25-18 lead into the locker room at the break.

That advantage grew to as many as 11 points in the second half as Fullerton scored nine of the first 14 points of the period before Northridge battled back, using a 10-3 spurt over a six-minute span to close the gap to only four points at 37-33 with 8:20 remaining.

Fullerton rebuilt its lead back to nine points, but another rally by the Matadors (this one a 7-2 run) brought them back to with four with just under four minutes to play. However, three straight baskets by the Titans gave them a 10-point advantage and they never looked back.

Cal State Fullerton shot just 36 percent from the field, but outrebounded Northridge by a 42-37 count and forced the Matadors into 25 turnovers on the night , turning those into 22 points for the Titans. The 15 steals by the Fullerton defense tied a season high reached three other times this year.

Whitney Ligon led Cal State Northridge with 16 points and was joined in double figures by Katie Holloway, who narrowly missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.

The Titans close out the 2007-08 regular season next Saturday (March 8) at 5 p.m. as they host UC Irvine at Titan Gym in the final home appearance for senior Alison Bennett.