49ers Host Vandals and Aggies This Week
Beach Home for Five of the Next Seven
January 26, 2004 PDF File of the Release HOST IDAHO (13-3, 5-2), THURSDAY, 7:30 P.M.
Idaho has been the surprise team in the Big West this season running up a 73.5 points per game average thanks to the nation's leading scorer, 5-11 sophomore post Emily Faurholt... 5-5 freshman guard Leilani Mitchell is averaging 18.1 points and 6.7 assists per game... Idaho ran off seven straight to start the year and won 12 of its first 13... Idaho is shooting 46% from the field, 41% from three, both best in the Big West and 72% from the line... Mike Divilbiss enters his third season.
HOST UTAH STATE (2-13, 2-5 BIG WEST)
The Aggies in their first year have won two of their last five after losing their first 10... USU's basketball program was discontinued following the 1986-87 season due to budget cuts... 6-3 center Ali Aird is averaging 13.7 points and shooting 64% from the field, while 5-8 guard Christina Zdenek (West Hills, CA), one of two Californians, is averaging 11.8 points... USU is shooting 37% from the field and averaging 59.1 points per game... the Aggies' roster to begin the year featured two juniors, two sophomores and eight freshmen for first-year Head Coach Raegan Pebley.
49ERS BACK FOR FIVE OF SEVEN
Long Beach State (7-9, 3-4 Big West), winners of their last three, will return home for five of its next seven, beginning with surprising upstart Idaho (13-3, 5-2 Big West) on Thursday and conference newcomer Utah State (2-13, 2-5 Big West) on Saturday. Both contests are at 7:30 p.m. in The Pyramid. All LBSU games can be heard live at www.longbeachstate.com.
BIG WEST STANDINGS
With the first half of the conference's 18-game schedule ending this week, the 49ers, at 3-4, are tied with UC Riverside for sixth place in the Big West... UC Santa Barbara (6-1) holds a half game lead over Pacific (6-2) and is a full game ahead of Idaho (5-2)... Cal Poly and CS Fullerton are both 4-3, tied for fourth place, while CS Northridge is 2-6 and UC Irvine is 1-6.
THE HEGARTY FILE
Mary Hegarty, one of the 15 greatest players in UCLA women's basketball history (along with current assistant and Hall of Famer Denise Curry), begins her first season at the helm of the 49ers. Hegarty previously coached 10 seasons at Chapman University in Orange County, going 160-92 (.635), averaging 16 wins a season after the team won just two games the year prior to her arrival. Chapman, a non-scholarship, unaffiliated Division-III program reached the last three straight NCAA Tournaments with at-large berths and went 57-24 (.704), including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2001-02. They appeared in four NCAAs in her 10 seasons.
LAST TWO WEEKS
LBSU 57, UC Irvine 51: Candice Wilson went on a personal 6-0 run over the final two minutes to give the 49ers their third-straight road victory. LBSU shot 50% from the field as Wilson scored all 11 of her points in the second half. Petra Gläser added a team-high 13 points. Both teams would go on runs throughout the night, with neither team getting much of lead.
LBSU 56, UC Riverside 48: Big West Player of the Week Jayme Connors led the 49ers with 16 points and six rebounds on 7-of-11 shooting en route to a 56-48 win over host UC Riverside for the team's second win in a row. Connors also keyed the 49ers run over the final two minutes with six straight points, two days after scoring a season-high 18 points at CS Fullerton. Petra Gläser and Crystal McCutcheon added 13 points a piece as LBSU outrebounded the Highlanders 39-to-31. The 49ers were able to sustain a 12-3 run midway through the second half by UCR and hold on for the win.
LBSU 77, CS Fullerton 65: Long Beach State and Head Coach Mary Hegarty picked up their first conference wins of the season, defeating host CS Fullerton 77-65 behind BWC POY Jayme Connors' 18 points and 12 rebounds. She led five 49ers in double figures as Crystal McCutcheon added 17 points. Long Beach State outrebounded CS Fullerton 51 to 28 in their best rebounding performance of the season as McCutcheon and Petra Gläser each had nine rebounds.
HIGH ROLLER WITH CONNORS
Las Vegas native, sophomore forward Jayme Connors, is averaging 13.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game over her last three contests, earning Big West Player of the Week accolades last week for her play at UC Riverside and at CS Fullerton. On the season, Connors is averaging 9.6 points and a team-best 7.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 47% from the field.
DRIVING THE POINT HOME
Guard Candice Wilson (Sacramento, CA) has led the 49ers in assists in five of the last six contests, after being the team leader in assists just twice over the first 10 contests. On the year Wilson is averaging 7.7 points and 3.6 assists per game.
CRYSTALIZED
Sophomore guard Crystal McCutcheon (Lancaster) has hit for double digits in seven of the past nine games, averaging 12.6 points per game. Her 6.1 rebounds per game is third on the club.
PETRA IS PAY-DIRT
Junior center Petra Gläser (Amtsberg, Germany) continues to lead the team in scoring, averaging 13.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Gläser has hit for double digits in each of the last 15 games. Gläser is shooting 51% from the field.
GETTING IT DONE FROM THE LINE
The 49ers are shooting 77% from the free throw line after shooting just 54% over their first four Big West contests. More importantly the team has gotten to the line an average of 22 times over the past three games. On the year, LBSU is shooting 69% with three players, Jayme Connors (77%), Petra Gläser (74%) and Crystal McCutcheon (69%) leading the squad.
REBOUNDING IN A BIG WAY
Maybe the most painful achilles heal for the 49ers this season is their rebounding. After averaging about 34 rebounds per contest over their first 13 games, the 49ers have outrebounded their last three opponents to a tune of 39 to 28.
FIRING AWAY FROM DOWNTOWN
Senior wing Lauren Bull (Rockford, IL) is closing in on second place all-time in career three-pointers. Her 87 three-pointers is just six away from tying for second place all-time. On the year Bull is averaging 8.0 points per game while shooting 28% this year.
LOOKING TOWARDS .500
The 49ers are two games under .500 to start the week, the closest the team has gotten to the half line since the opening weeks of the season. The team's three-game win streak is a season-high.
LOOKING AHEAD
If recent history is any indication of how the 49ers will fare over the second half of the season, LBSU just might be warming up. Prior to last year, when they went 4-5 down the stretch, the 49ers had lost just two games in each of the previous four "second halves," going 6-2 in 2001-02 and 1999-98 and 5-2 in 2000-01 and 1999-2000. The 49ers have had a winning Big West mark in each of the past five years.
COMING BACK TO WIN
Three times this season, the 49ers have come back in the second half to defeat their opponent, most recently to close out 2003 against New Orleans. LBSU trailed by seven to the Privateers, coming back to win by two. Previously, the 49ers overcame a 12-point (EWU) and 14-point (USD) second half to win by eight. Two other times (Colorado State and Fresno State) the 49ers came within a single basket.
SANTOS JOINS 49ERS
Six-foot-two wing Fernanda Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil), a member of the Brazilian National Team, became the latest addition to the team, joining the 49ers at the semester. Santos spent the 2002-03 season at Grayson County Junior College in Denison, TX averaging 17.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.8 steals per game, shooting 41% from three, 77% from the charity stripe and 43% overall. Her scoring average ranked 24th amongst JUCO's in the state of Texas. As a freshman at Lee University (TN), she averaged 7.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, shooting 33% from three and 36% overall.
49ERS PICKED THIRD
LBSU was picked to finish third in both the coaches and media pre-season polls. UC Santa Barbara, which has won the last eight Big West titles was picked to win it. The 49ers have won eighteen conference championships in its history and reached seven Big West Tournament Championship games since 1989.
STRONG TRADITION
The Long Beach State program was ranked in the top-10 for much of the 1980's and have finished ranked in the top-20 10 times in its history. For 215 straight weeks from 1979 to 1991, The Beach were ranked in the top-25. LBSU has won 18 conference titles and reached 16 NCAA Tournaments. Despite not having a Kodak All-American since 1988-89, the 49ers ranked seventh all-time in total All-Americans since 1981.
TRANSFERS TO REDSHIRT
Sophomore Val Willhoit (Colorado Springs, CO-Colorado State) and senior Aisha Hollans (Berkeley, CA-USC) will both redshirt this season after transferring. Willhoit is a former All-State guard out of Colorado, while Hollans is a former first team All-Pac 10 guard from USC who averaged 14.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in three seasons at Southern Cal.
49ERS INK TWO FOR 2004-05
Jeanie Saunders (Long Beach) and Junior College transfer Meghan Griffith (Rocklin) both signed letters of intent to attend LBSU starting in 2004-05. Saunders, a 5-7 guard from Wilson High, averaged 12.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 steals as a junior earning second team All-Press-Telegram Dream Team status. Griffith, as a 6-3 freshman at Sierra College in Northern California, averaged 13 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game.
HOW DO YOU SPELL THAT?
Germany native Petra Gläser last name is spelled with an umlat (ä) over the "a" in German and Glaeser in English. The preferred spelling is with the ä, if you can figure out the proper keys (usually alt-u followed by the a) to produce it! |
