49ers Defeat Idaho 75-67
Beach Shoots Season-High 63%, Winning Their Fourth Straight
January 29, 2004 LONG BEACH, CA--The Long Beach State women's basketball team (8-9, 4-4 Big West) defeated the Idaho Vandals (13-4, 5-3 Big West) 75-67 Thursday night at The Pyramid. The Beach shot a season-high 63% from the field, with five players scoring in double-digits. The nation's leading scorer, Idaho's Emily Faurholt had 26 points. It was the 49ers fourth-straight win.
The Vandals closed within 68-62 after a three by Leilani Mitchell, but a lay-up by Petra Gläser pushed the Beach's lead back to 70-62. The 49ers gave up another basket to let the Vandals close within 70-64 with just over a minute to play, but Idaho was forced to foul in the final minute as The Beach went on to victory.
LBSU had five players in double-digits for the game with Gläser picking up 16, Jayme Connors, Candice Wilson and Crystal McCutcheon with 14, and Christina Mack with 11. McCutcheon led The Beach with a career-high nine rebounds, as Long Beach out-rebounded the Vandals 31-to-17.
Idaho was led by Faurholt with 26 points, Mitchell with 15, and Heather Thoelke with 10. Faurholt and Emily Halliday led the team with five rebounds a piece. The Vandals shot just 46% from the field.
LBSU continued to hold a double-digit lead for over 15 minutes until Karly Felton drained a three as the shot clock expired to close within 62-54 with 4:25 remaining. Christina Mack pushed the 49ers lead back to 66-56, but Idaho's Faurholt knocked down a three to bring the game with 66-59 with 3:11 left to play.
The 49ers opened up the second half with a 9-3 run to push their lead to 46-30 with 15:03 remaining after a turn-around jumper by Connors.
McCutcheon's trey at 9:29 was the team's first three-pointer in 97:09 minutes, a span of four games.
The Beach capped off a 7-0 run in the final two minutes to lead 37-27 at the halftime break, shooting 60% from the field. Wilson led The Beach with 10 first-half points, while Faurholt led the Vandals with 11, as Idaho was held to just 39% shooting. The 49ers out-rebounded Idaho 14-to-10 in the first half.
The 49ers will next host Utah State on Saturday, January 31 at 7:35 in The Pyramid. BOX SCORE |
