Cleveland, Thieme Key Titans’ Overtime Victory

Nieshia Cleveland scored 24 of her 28 points after halftime to help Cal State Fullerton defeat Oakland University in overtime, 84-77, in women’s basketball Monday at Fullerton.

Fullerton trailed by 12 at halftime after shooting 35% from the field but put together an 8-0 run early in the second half to get back into the game.

The Titans rallied behind Andrea Thieme, who had 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Cleveland. Erin Whiteside (22 points, 14 rebounds) and Rhonda Anderson (10 points, six assists) also had solid games for Fullerton.

Cleveland made all four of her three-point shots in the second half and Thieme made one of two free throws with 16 seconds remaining to make it, 70-70, to send the game into overtime.

Fullerton (2-0), which struggled from the free-throw line making only 24 of 50, made eight of 12 in the overtime to help seal the victory.

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After a remarkable opening weekend to the women’s NCAA season, UCLA will face No. 2-ranked UConn at 7 tonight.

The Huskies, ranked third in the preseason AP poll, buried fourth-ranked Duke, 104-74, then hammered No. 18 Arkansas, 100-64, last weekend in the Four in the Fall tournament in San Jose.

UCLA, ranked as high as fourth in preseason polls, fell to 14th in the AP poll after stumbling Saturday at Notre Dame, 99-82, and suddenly looks very much the underdog in its home opener.

The Huskies are led by 6-5 Paige Sauer, a junior from Midwest City, Okla. She was the most valuable player Saturday at San Jose.

But UConn’s best weapon is Russian forward Svetlana Abrosimova, a 6-2 sophomore who is among the game’s best shooters.

As for UCLA, the Bruins got 47 points and 14 rebounds from Maylana Martin and Melanie Pearson, but were in early foul trouble at Notre Dame.