Senior guard and leading scorer Megan Richardson was held to 14 points in the Titans’ first game against UCSB, a 37-39 loss. Richardson and the Titans look to generate more offense against the Gauchos. (Robert Huskey/ Daily Titan)

The Cal State Fullerton women’s basketball team will travel to UC Santa Barbara to face the seventh place Gauchos (8-13 overall, 3-6 conference) in a Big West Conference matchup with much at stake for both teams. Every game counts with the conference tournament coming closer.

Tipoff is set to begin Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Thunderdome.

For the Titans, it’s been a rough last couple weeks in Big West play as they lost seven of their last eight conference games by nine points or less. The first of those losses began on Jan. 5 where they lost, 76-69, to Cal Poly. One of those losses includes a 39-37 loss to the Gauchos in their first matchup this season on Jan. 7 at Titan Gym. In that game, Fullerton shot only 33 percent in the afternoon.

The Titans are currently 9-13 overall, 2-8 in conference play, and are sitting in ninth place in the Big West standings.

Historically, the Titans haven’t fared well against the Gauchos. CSUF has lost its last 38 matches against UCSB dating back to 1995. Senior guard Megan Richardson will need to have a strong game for the Titans if they want to leave Santa Barbara with a victory. Richardson scored 14 points in the first matchup, which was just under her 16.5 points per game conference average.

The Titans will also need better-balanced scoring overall. Besides Richardson, Titan redshirt sophomore guard Mya Olivier was the only other Fullerton player to score in double digits with 10 points in the first matchup against UCSB. The next highest point total for the Titans was from freshman guard Chante Miles who scored five points.

In that game, UCSB held Fullerton to 37 points, the lowest point total of the season for the Titans. This was 26.2 points below their season average of 63.2 points per game.

Another key focus for the Titans will be to win the turnover battle and the battle on the boards, which were both won by UCSB in their first face off. Fullerton was outrebounded by only one, but turned the ball over four more times than the Gauchos did. If the rematch is as close as the first game, then every possession will be vital for the Titans to prevail.

It’s imperative that the Titans get off to a quick start against UCSB. Slow starts have been haunting them over the past few weeks late in games. Pacific opened up the Feb. 4 matchup against the Titans on a 12-2 run, a game which Fullerton eventually lost by five points, 69-64.

CSUF will also need better production from its bench, as it produced only 10 points in the first battle between the two teams. Better bench production and a solid outing from the starting five should give the Titans an opportunity to win their third Big West Conference game, and put them in a possible tie for eighth place.