Santa Barbara Drops Hammer on Fullerton

UC Santa Barbara hammered Cal State Fullerton twice during the regular season, and the last time the Titans scored only 24 points.

Fullerton scored more than that in the first half against Santa Barbara in the first round of the the Big West Conference women’s basketball tournament Wednesday night. But it was still business as usual for Santa Barbara.

The top-seeded Gauchos (20-8) got their bid for a fifth consecutive tournament title rolling with a 79-50 victory at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Fullerton finished 1-27, the worst record in women’s basketball at the school. The Titans were 2-25 last season.

Freshman Lindsay Taylor and senior Nicole Greathouse each had 19 points for Santa Barbara. Greathouse made eight of 10 from the field and went over the 1,000-point mark for her career. Taylor, a 6-foot-8 center, had 13 rebounds.

Freshman guard Tamara Quinn led the Titans with 14 points, but Fullerton shot only 30.9% from the field to 46.9% for the Gauchos.

“This game was indicative of our season,” Titan Coach Barbara Ehardt said. “We fought hard, but we came out on the short end. We looked good at times, but sometimes our inexperience and lack of height came out.”