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Cristina Jones, Cal State Fullerton oust CSUN in Big West Tournament opener

March 11, 2026

Cristina Jones made her first Big West Conference Tournament appearance a memorable one on Wednesday afternoon.

Jones had 32 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and five steals to lead the fifth-seeded Cal State Fullerton women’s basketball team to an 80-65 victory over eighth-seeded Cal State Northridge in a first-round game at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nev.

The Titans (18-13) will meet fourth-seeded Hawaii (20-10) in a quarterfinal on Thursday at noon PT.

Jones, a 5-foot-10 sophomore forward who followed first-year coach John Bonner over from Cal State Dominguez Hills, had been building toward her latest performance, posting two games with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in the past two weeks, something no other Fullerton player had done in the previous 26 years.

“I’m just there, ready to work for my team,” Jones said. “They always believe in me, and I’m always going to work hard for them and grind and get everything.”

The Long Beach native also came in averaging 3.8 steals per game, which was tied for fifth-best in the nation, and continues to add to her single-season program record (111).

“I’m here to win,” she said. “I’m here to just compete and just play for my team and play for my coaches.”

After falling behind by as many as 11 points in the opening six minutes, the Matadors (10-20) whittled the deficit to 54-53 on the first basket of the fourth quarter.

Jones scored six straight points to give Fullerton a 60-53 lead, however, and CSUN was not able to get back within one possession.

The Matadors made a final push to pull within four points when Alondra Lizama scored off a missed free throw with 4:15 left, but the Titans answered with a 7-0 run that matched their biggest lead of the game at 72-61 with 2:58 remaining.

“There was a lot of back and forth between our mistakes, their mistakes. Teams kind of going on runs,” Bonner said. “Where we separated ourselves was in the last three minutes. Our team demonstrated an incredible amount of composure and execution down the stretch.”

Fullerton, which came in averaging 17.9 offensive rebounds per game, the second-most in the nation, grabbed 28 offensive boards (part of a 56-36 rebounding advantage) and forced 28 turnovers to help offset its 33% shooting (23 for 70). The Titans also shot 31 for 43 from the free-throw line.

“We’re just a team that’s going to keep going and keep going,” Jones said. “We work on our conditioning so much, so us playing full court for all 40 minutes is what we do and we’re going to keep doing it until it stops working.”

Dylan Swindle added 13 points and five steals and Talia Maxwell had 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench for Fullerton, which posted just its second winning season in the past 35 years.

CSUN’s reserves contributed 43 points, led by Rita Nazario with 17. Lizama added 14 points off the bench, and Erika Aspajo was the lone starter in double figures with 14.

“The team had a good fight,” CSUN coach Angie Ned said. “I felt like we were in the game for most of it. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the outcome we wanted. We need to do a much better job of rebounding and defending without fouling, keeping them off the line, and just taking care of the ball.”

The game began with two free throws for Fullerton before the clock even started because Northridge was given an administrative technical foul for not turning in its starting lineup in time.

The Titans surged to a 15-4 lead behind Jones, who had 10 points in the first 6½ minutes before she limped off following a turnover with 2:31 left in the opening quarter.

Nazario cut the deficit to three with the third 3-pointer of the first quarter for the Matadors, but Maxine Sutisna’s half-court shot at the buzzer extended the lead back to 27-20.

Jones returned to the game to start the second quarter and her primary defender, Jite Gbemuotor, a 6-2 forward who came in averaging 9.4 points and 8.3 rebounds, went to the bench with her third foul 1:21 later.

Another starter for Northridge, Saray White, picked up her third foul with 3:27 left in the half before eventually fouling out with 5:43 left in the game.

CSUN committed nine turnovers in the first quarter and13 in the opening half.

Swindle picked up her third foul with 7:53 left in the third quarter, but stayed in and turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions, allowing the Matadors to cut a 10-point deficit back to 51-47.

Gbemuotor went back to the bench with her fourth foul with 5:51 left in the third and the Matadors committed their 20th turnover 53 seconds later.

“Our first option is always defense first, so our defense starts our offense out,” Jones said. “We may not be the best half-court team, but our defense gets us going, gets a few quick early layups and then we’re ready just to play.”

Orange County Register

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Cristina Jones, Cal State Fullerton oust CSUN in Big West Tournament opener

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