Cal State Fullerton women’s basketball defended its home court, sweeping the season series against conference rival Long Beach State, winning 70-62.
Graduate student Kya Pearson led the way for the Titans with a season-high 21 points, converting 15 of those from the free throw line.
Freshman center Nicole Steiner, the team’s second-highest scorer, made her return to the court after missing a month due to injury. In 11 minutes, she contributed 10 points and seven rebounds.
Both teams started the game physically and struggled to handle the basketball, trying to overcome ball pressure. Despite Long Beach State’s first-quarter turnovers, they built an early 12-8 lead.
Due to Long Beach State’s ball pressure, the Titans sought to attack the rim early, scoring 12 of their 16 points in the paint.
Long Beach started hot from behind the arc, knocking down 40% of threes in the first quarter to bolster their lead. They came down to earth by halftime, shooting just 20%.
The first half of the game was defined by the Titans’ cold shooting. They couldn’t get their three-ball going, missing on all eight attempts.
It wasn’t much different inside the three-point line for the Titans; they struggled to get it going, shooting just 28.2% compared to the Beach’s 41.7%.
The Titans were relentless on the glass, however, grabbing 24 total rebounds, with 14 of them on the offensive front. CSUF used that to their advantage, logging 12 second-chance points.
A 33-28 Long Beach State lead took the game into the half, thanks to sophomore guard JaQuoia Jones-Brown, stuffing the stat sheet with seven points and three rebounds.
CSUF sophomore Cristina Jones started off the second half doing it on both ends of the floor. She went coast-to-coast with defensive and offensive rebounds, doing the dirty work on the glass and scoring to force an early Long Beach State timeout.
The Beach didn’t hold back. They kept their defensive tenacity going and continued to make the game gritty on both ends, highlighting their rim protection.
At the 3:44 mark of the third, the game’s tide shifted completely. The Titans finished off the quarter going on a 12-1 run, forcing multiple turnovers and offensive fouls, frustrating the Beach.
“I think the mindset, I think it was just us worrying about our own engine, our own energy,” said Head Coach John Bonner.
The Titans continued their dominance in the fourth quarter, kicking it off with an 11-3 run to bring the lead to double digits.
Guard Kya Pearson dominated late for the Titans as the game dialed down, scoring 14 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter, along with putting immense pressure on the defensive end.
“The second games are going to be a bit tougher. Everyone knows what each other’s gonna run,” Bonner said.
The Titans walked off with their 15th win of the season and seventh in a row against a historic rival.