SAN DIEGO – The Aztec women's basketball team (3-2) defeated Cal State Fullerton (2-2) 55-45 inside Viejas Arena Sunday afternoon.
In a defensive battle, the Aztecs outlasted the Titans by holding them to 28 percent shooting from the field and 15 percent from three. SDSU outrebounded Cal State Fullerton 51-41, led by Mallory Adams' 12 boards.
Adams notched her 10th career double-double after scoring 14 points. Taylor Kalmer led the team with 15 points, 12 of which came in the first half. Kalmer has scored in double-digits in every game so far this season.
"It's a great win. Any win is a great win," head coach Stacie Terry said after the game. "We've had a tough stretch this week with four games in eight days, so I was really proud of the way our team mustered up enough strength to get through this game. Fullerton just had a really good road win in overtime at LMU, so I knew they were going to come in here and give us their best shot. I'm really proud of our defense. Any time you hold somebody to 45 points, you've done a heck of a job."
The Aztecs got the first bucket of the game but then would trail for the remainder of the first quarter. They took the lead early in the second quarter and then held the lead for the rest of the game. SDSU shot 50 percent from the field in the second quarter and outscored the Titans 18-9.
SDSU would hold Fullerton to 3-for-17 shooting in the third quarter, which offset their own shooting woes (4-16).
The Aztec lead ballooned to 15 points with 4:20 remaining, but a late Titan run cut the deficit to seven points. The game was never in doubt however as the Aztecs hit six free throws down the stretch to put the game on ice.
Fullerton's Raina Perez was the Titans' main source of offense, accounting for 22 of their 45 points and nine of their 19 field goals.
STAT OF THE GAME I
The Aztecs held Cal State Fullerton to 3-of-20 shooting from three-point range. On the year, opponents are shooting just 19 percent from deep against SDSU.
STAT OF THE GAME II
Cal State Fullerton's Raina Perez had nine field goals while the rest of the Titans had 10.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
"Rebounding was the main focus of today's game, so we made sure we did that right. We did rebounding drill after rebounding drill the last couple days. We needed to make sure we kept them off the glass because that's what hurt us against Alabama A&M." Sophomore Mallory Adams on the team's emphasis on winning the rebounding battle
THE NOTE I
Taylor Kalmer has scored at least 10 points in every game for the Aztecs this season. She scored in double-digits 11 times in her first 80 career games at Oregon State.
THE NOTE II
The Aztecs have now beaten the Titans in their last 11 meetings.
UP NEXT
The Aztecs host Cal Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. The game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.
Aztecs Outlast CS Fullerton 55-45
