A last-second putback by Cal State Fullerton foiled a last-minute comeback by UC Santa Barbara in women’s basketball on Thursday.
Cristina Jones beat the buzzer by scoring off a teammate’s miss to give the Titans a 62-61 victory at the Thunderdome and end the Gauchos’ nine-game winning streak.
UCSB (10-2, 2-1 Big West Conference) rallied in the final 35 seconds with a furious 7-0 run before Fullerton (7-6, 3-0) scored off its 24th offensive rebound of the game.
“One thing we’ve learned how to do is execute in close games, and I thought we did a great job executing down the stretch,” UCSB coach Renee Jimenez said. “It would have felt like a huge sigh of relief had we won that at the end.
“But it was pretty fitting that they won on their 24th offensive rebound. Like, we didn’t learn our lesson with 23.”
The nine-game winning streak was UCSB’s longest since it won 10 straight during its Big West championship season of 2008-09.
The Gauchos, who came into the game ranked fourth nationally in both three-point percentage (39.1%) and three-pointers per game (10.9), improved those numbers by making 11-of-23 long shots (47.8%). They out-shot Fullerton overall, 50% to 35.6%.
But the Titans used a physical, pressing defense to level the playing field with 16 steals. They forced UCSB into 27 turnovers and out-rebounded the Gauchos 40-31.
“They make it really hard … they make it ugly,” Jimenez said. “They took 73 shots, and we took 42, which is kind of crazy.
“We gave them a lot of extra possessions.
“But to lose the game on an O board when we kept telling them, ‘You have to change! You have to change!’ … It was kind of fitting.”
A pair of three-pointers by Zoe Borter, one apiece by Olivia Bradley and Jessica Grant, and a three-point play by Skylar Burke put the Gauchos ahead 19-10 in the first eight minutes.
Grant went 4-for-7 from three for 12 points to share team-high scoring honors with Borter. Zoe Shaw added 10 points while Burke had eight points and team-high eight rebounds.
Madison Naro, whose six assists were tempered by eight turnovers, left the game with a shoulder injury with 3:45 remaining.
“It’s not good,” Jimenez said. “She’s done it before on that shoulder — I think she was on a foreign tour with Santa Clara when she jumped off the boat and her shoulder popped out.
“We won’t have her for a little bit.”
Jimenez thought Naro and fellow guard Zoe Shaw “did the best job they could” against Fullerton’s pressure.
“I just would have liked other people to participate a little bit more in the press,” Jimenez said.
Fullerton’s pressing tactics got it to within 22-18 by the end of the first quarter.
The Titans appeared to have the game in hand when Jones’ basket gave them a 60-54 lead with 1:38 to go. She led all scorers with 17 points while teammate Nicole Steiner used eight offensive rebounds — 13 total — to add 16 points.
But Shaw hit a three with 35 seconds left. After a charging violation by Jones, Shaw made a pair of free throws with 31 seconds still remaining.
Fullerton turned the ball over again in its next possession. And although Dylan Swindle blocked Borter’s three-point attempt, Burke got the rebound and scored while getting fouled to put UCSB into the lead, 61-60, with 10 seconds to go.
She missed the free throw, however, and Jones’ put-back was just enough to give the Titans the one-point victory.
The Gauchos will try to bounce back on Saturday with a 2 p.m. home game against Cal State Northridge.