Fullerton Women End Streak With Upset of Long Beach

The Cal State Fullerton women’s basketball team was on the verge of ending a 13-season, 26-game losing streak to Cal State Long Beach Monday night when Titan Coach Maryalyce Jeremiah called timeout with 47 seconds remaining.

Fullerton was ahead by 11 points, but instead of savoring an apparent victory, Jeremiah was fuming. The Titans had missed four free throws in one-and-one situations in the previous minute and seemed to be letting the 49ers back in the game.

“I told them I’ve been waiting six years for this, and you’re not gonna screw it up,” Jeremiah said.

They didn’t. Fullerton recovered to make six of its final seven free throws and defeat 24th-ranked Long Beach, 75-63, in Titan Gym, Fullerton’s first victory over the 49ers since the 1977-78 season.

It was the second time in three nights the unranked Titans have defeated a nationally ranked team. Fullerton ended an eight-year drought against Nevada Las Vegas with an 86-80 victory over the fifth-ranked Rebels Saturday.

Senior center Genia Miller scored a season-high 39 points Monday, making 16 of 24 shots from the field and seven of seven free throws. She also grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked five shots as the Titans improved to 12-4, 5-2 in the Big West Conference.

Junior guard Joey Ray added 13 points, nine of them on three-pointers, during an 18-4 second-half run that turned a one-point game into a 61-46 Fullerton lead with 7:19 to play.

“It’s a great feeling knowing you’ve beaten Las Vegas and Long Beach in the same year,” said Jeremiah, whose Titans have also defeated UCLA and USC this season. “You’ve got to give these kids an awful lot of credit. They’ve beaten some good teams.”

Monday night’s victory was not as artistic as Saturday’s, when Fullerton played a near-perfect game against Las Vegas. The Titans had trouble with the 49ers’ full-court press and turned the ball over 25 times.

But when Fullerton was able to set its half-court offense, the Titans did an excellent job of getting the ball inside to Miller for high-percentage shots. That helped to offset Long Beach’s transition game and hold the 49ers to a season-low 63 points. That marked the 49ers’ second-lowest point total in conference play since they joined the Big West five years ago.

“You don’t stop their fast break with defense,” Jeremiah said. “You stop it with offense, by getting good shots in the half-court game.”

The 49ers, in Coach Joan Bonvicini’s opinion, weren’t taking good shots, and even when they were, they weren’t making many. Long Beach (8-6, 3-2) made 28 of 74 shots for 38%.

Center Kari Parriott scored 15 points and forward Kellie Bennett added 10, but guard Dana Wilkerson, the 49ers’ leading scorer with a 16.4 average, scored a season-low six.

“That was embarrassing,” Bonvicini said. “I’d hate to see our field-goal percentage. It was atrocious. It wasn’t necessarily their defense, it was impatience on offense and poor shot-selection.”

Still, Long Beach was in the game until midway through the second half, when the 49ers hit a cold spell and Ray got hot. Ray, who scored 25 against UNLV, keyed Fullerton’s 18-4 run, and Miller had seven points during the stretch.

Long Beach had a chance to trim the lead when the Titans started missing free throws late in the game, but the 49ers missed eight of their last 10 shots.

Fullerton forward Claudette Jackson added 11 points and 11 rebounds and point guard Michelle Hennessey had six points and six assists.

But the victory was especially sweet for Miller, who hadn’t beaten UNLV or Long Beach in her four years.

“This was a long time coming,” she said. “It feels great.”

In another Big West Conference women’s game:

UC Santa Barbara 78, UC Irvine 68--Lisa Crosskey, a junior from Fullerton College, scored 17 points, Barbara Beainy had 16 and Erika Kienast 15 for host Santa Barbara. Jenny Lee scored 16 and Kathy Lizarraga had 14 for Irvine, which trailed at the half, 42-32.