| 49ers Travel to Pacific, Northridge This Week PDF FILE
FULL 2002-03 SCHEDULE RECORD: 10-12 BIG WEST: 7-4 HOME: 5-6, AWAY: 5-5, NEUTRAL: 0-1
UPCOMING STORYLINE
The 49ers (10-12, 7-4 Big West) will play their final two road games of the regular season this week, traveling to Pacific (9-13, 6-5 Big West) on Thursday at 7 p.m. and at CS Northridge (3-19, 3-8 Big West) on Saturday at 7 p.m. LBSU heads down the final stretch of the regular season with five more games, of which the final three will be at home. Currently tied with UC Irvine for second place and a game in front of Pacific, the final three weeks of the regular season will be a battle for seeding for the upcoming conference tournament in Anaheim in mid-March. Senior forward Glory Johnson leads the Big West in scoring with 16.7 points per game and is ranked amongst Big West leaders in five offensive categories.
49ER PROBABLE STARTING UNIT
F-Glory Johnson (Sr., Phoenix, AZ), 16.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg
F-Jennifer Baker (Jr., Riverdale, MD), 8.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg
C-CeCe Rush (Fr., Pontiac, MI), 1.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg
G-Candice Wilson (So., Sacramento), 10.7 ppg, 4.5 apg
G-Christina Mack (So., Glendale, AZ), 5.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg
TEAM STATS: FG: 39%, 3PT: 25%, FT: 68%, PPG: 63.2
FEBRUARY 20
at Pacific (9-13, 6-5)
Stockton, CA | 7 p.m.
TEAM STATS: FG: 40%, 3PT: 31%, FT: 63%, PPG: 61.8
UOP NOTES: LBSU won the first meeting 60-55... Pacific has won four of its last five games, with its only blemish to No. 17-ranked UC Santa Barbara... the Tigers can move up in the standings this week when it hosts two of the three teams they are chasing in LBSU and UC Irvine... the Tigers are a game behind both... Gillian d'Hondt leads the club with 15.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, while Nancy Dinges is averaging 11.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game... Vanessa Dupont was the BWC Player of the Week two weeks ago, and is coming off a 15-point outburst from the bench against Cal Poly... Craig Jackson is in his first season as the head coach.
FEBRUARY 22
at CS Northridge (3-8, 3-19)
Northridge, CA | 7 p.m.
TEAM STATS: FG: 40%, 3PT: 31%, FT: 63%, PPG: 61.8
CSUN NOTES: LBSU won the first meeting 72-59... Hosts Irvine Thursday... Two of Northridge's three wins this year have come over the last two weeks, against Riverside, 69-59, and at Cal Poly, 62-54... Ofa Tulikihihifo is averaging 14.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while Brezya Rhodes is at 12.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game... they are currently tied with Riverside for the eighth and final playoff spot... the Matadors began the season 0-10 and 1-15... Tammy Holder is in her first year at CSUN. RUNNING THE SHOW
Dallas Bolla is in her eighth season as the head coach of LBSU basketball. The Beach has gone 116-109 in her seven-plus years, winning at least 16 games in each of the last four. The 49ers have won at least 10 Big West games in five of Bolla's seven seasons.
BIG WEST TOURNAMENT COMING
The annual Big West Conference Tournament will be at the Anaheim Convention Center from March 12 to 15, with the women's bracket beginning on Wednesday. For ticket information, contact the Pyramid Box Office at (562) 985-4949.
LAST WEEK
FEBRUARY 15 | IDAHO 55, LBSU 48
UI 25-30--55 (Fielding 24 pts, Team: 37%)
LBSU 24-24--48 (Johnson 21 pts, Team: 30%)
The 49ers dropped their second straight, as Idaho won for the first time in Long Beach with a 55-48 victory paced by co-Big West Player of the Week Autumn Fielding's 24 points and 11 rebounds. Idaho limited The Beach to just 30% shooting and 1-of-15 from beyond the arc. Jennifer Baker poured in a career-night of 17 points and 15 rebounds, along with three blocks and four steals. Glory Johnson added 21 points and nine rebounds.
FEBRUARY 13 | CS FULLERTON 77, LBSU 74
CSF 42-35--77 (Hansen 17 pts, Team: 43%)
LBSU 32-42--74 (Johnson 23 pts, Team: 44%)
A personal foul plus a technical foul on Glory Johnson with 4.1 seconds left forced Fullerton to shoot four free throws (of which three were made) breaking a 74-74 tie and giving the Titans the upset. CSF built an eight point lead with 12:41 left, before a layup by CeCe Rush tied it at 53-53 with 10:17 remaining. LBSU took a 64-60 lead with 5:55 on a Johnson free throw, but Fullerton would come back and lead 74-72 with 1:06 left on a Tamara Quinn jumper. The Beach tied it with 14 seconds left on a jumper by Jennifer Baker.
MISSING THE MARK
After reaching first place in the standings near the end of January, The Beach has dropped four of its last six to fall into a second place tie with UC Irvine, at 7-4. In the team's wins over that stretch, the team is averaging 76 points per game. In the four losses, they are averaging 57 points per game.
LONGEST STREAK SINCE 1991-92
The 49ers 5-0 start to start the Big West was their best start to Big West play since 1991-1992. That team lost its sixth game at UCSB. This year's dropped its sixth game at Cal Poly. The team's five-game win streak was the longest since 2000-01 (also five). The 49ers were also ahead of UC Santa Barbara in the standings for much of the first part of the conference season, before its current downturn.
DEFENSIVE EFFORTS
Part of the reason the 49ers were 5-0 in conference was their defense. During the streak, LBSU limited opponents to a 39% clip, holding them under 40% in four of five games.
SHAKIN' AND BAKIN'
Junior wing Jennifer Baker (Riverdale, MD) has hit double digits in each of her last six games, including a career-night on Saturday. The junior set career-highs in both points (17) and rebounds (15) against the Titans, hitting 7-of-15 from the field. On the year, Baker is averaging 8.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
SCORING LEADERS
If Glory Johnson (Phoenix, AZ) can hold on to the conference scoring title, currently at 16.7 points per game, she will be the third 49er in four years to lead the Big West in scoring, following Jackie Moore (18.5 ppg) in 2000-01 and Rhoda Smith (21.1) in 1999-2000.
ADDING THEM UP FROM THE LINE
The 49ers are shooting 68% from the charity stripe, the team's top free throw mark since 1988-89 when the team hit 71% of its foul shots. Glory Johnson leads the club with a 77% clip.
STEALING THEM AWAY
The Beach currently leads the conference in steals, averaging 10.0 steals per game. If the team can continue at its current pace, it will be the first time in school-history that the 49ers have led the conference in back-to-back years. In fact, before last year, LBSU had never led the conference in steals.
DOUBLING UP THE POST
Senior forward Glory Johnson (Phoenix, AZ) has scored in double digits in every game since the opener, a string of 21 straight contests. Last week, Johnson averaged 22.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. On the year, Johnson is averaging 16.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
CONFERENCE SCORING BARRAGE
Three players, Glory Johnson (17.6), Candice Wilson (12.0) and Jennifer Baker (10.4), are averaging double digits in conference play. Johnson (8.3) and Baker (7.8) are the team's leading rebounders.
WELCOME TO M*A*S*H 4077
The 49ers have three players out for the season, and one more on the IR due to injury, setting available players at nine. Redshirt freshman center Sarah Stout (Orlando, FL) is out indefinitely with a bad left leg. Freshman reserve forward Deja Blevins (Atlanta, GA) was lost for the year in mid-January at Idaho, when she tore the ACL in her left knee. Starting center Jayme Connors (Las Vegas, NV), was lost for the season after six games, after fracturing a bone in her left ankle. Freshman Liz Sun (Chatsworth, CA) suffered an ACL injury to her knee in a spring high school tournament game and is currently in rehabilitation.
49ERS PICKED TO FINISH THIRD
The Beach were picked to finish third in both the Big West Coaches and Media polls. UC Santa Barbara, winners of the last seven conference titles, was picked to win it, again, followed by Pacific and LBSU. The next tier features Idaho, Cal Poly, UC Irvine and UC Riverside, while CS Fullerton and CS Northridge make up the rest.
REACHING THE PRO'S
Jackie Moore (1998-2001), the former Big West Conference Player of the Year (2001) was a reserve for the Indiana Fever of the WNBA in 2002. Moore played in 18 games, starting two, scoring 42 points and adding 29 rebounds.
ON THE TUBE
The 49ers will be featured three times on television this season. The Sunshine Network broadcast the game from The Pyramid on December 1, local Cox TV in Santa Barbara broadcast the UCSB-LBSU in Santa Barbara on February 1, while KDOC-LA, as part of the Big West television package, will broadcast the heated UCSB-49er home matchup on February 26.
TRANSFERS WILL REDSHIRT
Six-foot-six German National Team member junior Petra Glaeser (UNLV) and sophomore guard Crystal McCutcheon (Pepperdine) are redshirting after transferring from Division-I institutions, as per NCAA guidelines.
SANTOS COMPLETES RECRUITING CLASS
Brazilian National Teamer Fernanda Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil) has signed a National Letter of Intent for the 2003-04 season. Santos is the second National Teamer to commit to play for The Beach for the 2003-04 season. Santos, a 6-3 guard, will play her sophomore season at Grayson Junior College (TX) after playing at Lee University (TN) as a freshman. |
