CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTEBOOK : Jeremiah Says Rally Was a Postseason Saver

Losses at Nevada Las Vegas and Cal State Long Beach dropped the Cal State Fullerton women’s basketball team out of the Associated Press poll, but national rankings were of no concern to Coach Maryalyce Jeremiah on Saturday night.

The Titans trailed New Mexico State by 13 at halftime, and a loss to the Aggies would have been far more damaging to Fullerton’s NCAA tournament hopes than road losses to conference powers UNLV and Long Beach.

That’s why Jeremiah was so relieved when a 24-6 run to start the second half got Fullerton back into the game, and Genia Miller’s two free throws with five seconds left won it, 69-67. The Titans improved to 17-6, 10-4 in the Big West Conference.

“I’m on the West Region Committee and I know how the (tournament selection process) works,” Jeremiah said. “I’m not sure those two losses (to UNLV and Long Beach) would hurt us as much as any loss now would. We have five games left and can still finish 22-6.”

That record should warrant a tournament berth, but Jeremiah knows late-season losses to teams with losing records--especially at home--can put doubts in some minds.

“Had we lost this game, it would have hurt us far more than the previous two,” Jeremiah said.

Jeremiah certainly had her doubts about the Titans on Saturday night. Fullerton made 26% (10 for 38) of its first-half shots and fell behind, 40-27, at halftime.

Asked what she was thinking when her team trailed by 13, Jeremiah said, “I was thinking I would like to rip their faces off. We played so horribly, so uninspired in the first half. It was disappointing.”

The Titans came around in the second half, though. Miller, who played with a sore back muscle and had only four points at halftime, scored 19 in the second half. Claudette Jackson, who kept Fullerton within striking distance with 19 first-half points, scored eight more in the second and finished with a career-high 27.

The Fullerton men’s basketball team, which snapped a four-game losing streak with victories over Pacific and Fresno State last week, will play Thursday night at New Mexico State, where no visiting team has won since the end of the 1988-89 season.

The Aggies have won 28 consecutive games in their 13,222-seat Pan American Center, 12 this season and 16 last season, and figure to be less-than-gracious hosts considering their last game against the Titans.

Fullerton, without starting center Aaron Wilhite and reserve center Ron Caldwell, beat New Mexico State, 89-81, on Jan. 19. The Titans handled the Aggies’ zone press with ease, and New Mexico State shot a paltry 38% from the field.

Fullerton Coach John Sneed expects a better Aggie effort this time.

“They have a way of playing absolutely possessed in Las Cruces,” Sneed said. “I’ve seen them come from 18 points down to win there. They play with an unbelievable amount of energy on that floor, and they have great athletes.”

Titan baseball Coach Augie Garrido isn’t the type to hurl water coolers around the dugout or throw a stack of bats onto the field, but he can still light a fire under a team, as he showed last week.

After Thursday’s 15-1 loss to Arizona, which dropped Fullerton to 1-5, Garrido had a little chat with his players, and they responded with victories over the Wildcats Friday and Saturday.

“He didn’t really yell at us--he just said he expected a lot more,” catcher Matt Hattabaugh said. “He spoke his mind for about two minutes and walked away. That left us all feeling empty, which I assume is how we made him feel. That was definitely more effective than getting screamed at.”

Frank Herman jump-started the Titans Friday with a lead-off homer. Fullerton added two more runs in the first inning, and Bill Fitzgerald pitched a complete game en route to a 7-2 victory.

On Saturday, Mike Berry’s bases-empty homer in the bottom of the ninth gave Fullerton a 5-4 victory.

“I was talking with (assistant coach) George Horton before Friday’s game and said all the team needed was one big inning to turn the season around,” Hattabaugh said. “Herman led off with the homer and that got the ball rolling.”

Hue Jackson, who spent the 1990 football season as Fullerton’s offensive backfield coach, has resigned to accept a job as an assistant with the London franchise in the new World League of American football.

Jackson, 25, spent three seasons (1987-89) as an assistant at Pacific, where he played quarterback in 1985-86. The former Dorsey High School and Glendale College standout accumulated 3,467 yards in total offense (923 rushing, 2,544 passing) at Pacific.

Titan Notes

Dwayne McAfee, a walk-on who returned 28 kickoffs for 452 yards as a Titan freshman last season, has decided to transfer to another school. According to freshman defensive back Terrence Sullivan, McAfee left because he didn’t feel the Fullerton football program was stable. In January, the school’s athletics council recommended dropping the sport because of financial problems, but President Milton A. Gordon decided to retain football on the belief that the school can raise enough money through private donations. However, it should also be noted that Coach Gene Murphy has signed several talented receivers, including El Camino College’s Shannon Thompson, who is also an outstanding kickoff returner. . . . Genia Miller was named Big West Conference tri-player of the week, the fifth time she has won or shared player-of-the-week honors this season. Miller ranks second in the nation in scoring (30.2 points per game), second in blocked shots (4.1), fifth in field-goal percentage (61.6%) and 16th in rebounding (11.3). . . . Michelle Hennessey needs 15 assists to break the school’s single-season record of 172, set by Cheryl Peterson in 1980-81. The junior point guard enters tonight’s game against UC Santa Barbara with 158 assists. . . . Wayne Williams recorded his 500th career assist against Fresno State on Saturday but is still 244 away from Leon Wood’s school career assist record of 744, set from 1981-84. . . . Bruce Bowen has averaged 15.4 points over the last seven games to lift his season average to 10.2 points. . . . Joe Small hasn’t completed his first season at Fullerton but already ranks fourth on the Titans’ career three-point field goal list with 57.