Long Beach State University Athletics
49ers Travel to the Bay Area For Two
12/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
49ers Head to SF with Good News * McCutcheon Named Big West Player of the Week Record: 3-1 Big West: 0-0 | Home: 2-0 | Away: 1-0 | Neutral: 1-0 A LOOK AT THE OPPOSITION CALIFORNIA: The Golden Bears are 3-3 on the season having won two straight, over CS Northridge on December 4 (77-67) and Tennessee Tech (65-41) on December 5... Cal is shooting an impressive 50 percent from three-point range, as senior guard Kristin Iwanaga is hitting 16-of-20 from three... senior forward Kiki Williams has added eight three-pointers... the Bears are averaging 76.5 points per game led by three players in double figures including senior forward Leigh Gregory's 15.2 points per game and 6-3 freshman center Jessica Lawson's 13.5 points per game... 49er assistant Denise Curry served as an assistant at Cal from 1990 to 1996... Caren Horstmeyer is in her first season after 12 seasons as the head coach at Santa Clara where she took the Broncos to four NCAA tournaments. STAR-STUDDED COACHING STAFF: Forty-Niner Head Coach Mary Hegarty (177-109) is entering her second year as head coach of the program after 10 successful years at Chapman University in Orange County. Hegarty, along with current assistants Denise Curry (also a Naismith Hall of Famer) and Nicole Anderson, are three of the 15 greatest women's basketball players in UCLA history. In fact, the entire staff has a degree from UCLA, but bleeds black and gold and is fully on board with Long Beach's past history, which has included two Final Fours, 16 NCAA Tournaments and seven Kodak All-Americans. HOLLANS READY TO GO: Long Beach State guard Aisha Hollans (Berkeley, CA), a former All-Pac-10 player from USC, was deemed eligible by the NCAA and will we available starting Thursday when the 49ers travel to the University of San Francisco. Hollans, who played her first three years and 70 games at USC, averaged 14.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game prior to transferring to LBSU. Hollans earned first team All-Pac 10 accolades as a sophomore in 2001-02 after averaging 17.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. She redshirted the 2003-04 season and has continued to practice with the team as the school and the NCAA has sorted out her eligibility. McCUTCHEON EARNS CONFERENCE AWARD: Long Beach State junior guard Crystal McCutcheon (Lancaster) was named the Big West Conference's Player of the Week for the first time in her career after averaging 19.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 3.7 steals per game in the team's three games. McCutcheon played all but four minutes, shooting 54 percent from the field, 6-of-8 from beyond the arc and 81 percent from the free throw line. McCutcheon began the week by tying her career-high's with 21 points and seven assists in a win over San Diego, before tallying 19 points, five steals and five rebounds in a two-point loss to Pittsburgh, followed by a 17-point, five rebound, five assist game in a win over Stony Brook on Sunday. McCUTCHEON AMONGST BIG WEST LEADERS: McCutcheon currently ranks in the top-five in most of the major statistical categories in the Big West, averaging 17.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game, while shooting 50 percent from the field, 7-of-11 from three and 87 percent from the charity stripe. McCutcheon also has the best assist-to-turnover (2:1) in the Big West. SCORING MACHINES: The 49ers currently lead the Big West with a 72.8 points per game scoring average, tallying 80 points twice (San Diego and Stony Brook) and 60 points twice (Montana, Pittsburgh). Currently three players (McCutcheon, Connors and Gläser) ranked amongst the top-10 in scoring, all averaging double digits. CONNORS DOUBLING UP OPPONENTS: Junior forward Jayme Connors (Las Vegas) is finally doing what fans expected of her prior to her ankle injury six games into her sophomore season two years ago. Connors, at 6-3 and a constructional engineering major, is averaging a double-double of 14.3 points and 10.0 rebounds per game this year at full strength, after redshirting the 2002-03 season with that ankle injury. She played at under 100 percent for much of the 2003-04 season, but still managed to rank third in the Big West in rebounding. NO CHARITY CASE: The 49ers are shooting 71 percent from the free throw line this season, hitting a season-best 75 percent of their fouls shots against Pittsburgh. Four players rank in the top-10 in the Big West in free throw shooting. 49ERS PICKED THIRD: The 49ers were picked to finish in third place in the Big West pre-season coaches poll, following UC Santa Barbara and Idaho. Last year LBSU finished fifth, but won two games in the conference tournament. Pacific, Cal Poly and CS Fullerton made up the next trio, followed by UC Riverside, CS Northridge, UC Irvine and second-year program, Utah State. 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. SCHWARZENEGGER'S BIG WEST: Coming in 2005-06 the Big West Conference will become an all California conference with the exit of Idaho and Utah State to the Sun Belt and the addition of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's neighbor, UC Davis. Davis, near Sacramento, and we don't mean Grey, will become a full member in 2007-08. THIS YEAR'S OPPONENTS: This year's opponents have a combined 38 NCAA Division-I Tournament appearances, led by Montana's 15 appearances and UC Santa Barbara's nine. UC Davis, which moves up from Division-II, appeared in an additional 12 NCAA Division-II Tournaments. Long Beach State has appeared in 11 NCAA Tournaments, with its last "dance"coming in 1992. Montana is picked to win the Big Sky, while Houston is picked third in Conference USA, but is off to an 8-0 start and No. 17 national ranking. SCORING PUNCH: The 49ers feature four players who have averaged at least 10 points per game in a Division-I season, and two seniors who have averaged double digits over their four-year careers. Center Petra Gläser (Amtsberg, Germany) averaged a team-best 13.4 points per game last season and has an 11.5 scoring average in two years at UNLV and one at LBSU, while guard Aisha Hollans (Berkeley) averaged 14.3 points per game in three years at USC. Junior guard Crystal McCutcheon (Lancaster) is coming off a 10.0 points per game clip last season, while senior guard Candice Wilson (Sacramento) averaged 11.0 points per game as a junior followed by 9.7 points per game last year. INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE: The 49ers boast two national teamers on the roster in Germany's Petra Gläser (Amtsberg) and Brazil's Fernanda Santos (Sao Paulo). Gläser competed for the Germans this past September and helped them qualify for the European Championships next fall, while Santos as been with the Brazilian national program since high school. QUARTET SIGNS WITH 49ERS: Four players signed with the 49ers during the early signing period led by All-CIF guard Karina Figueroa (Corona/Rosary HS), and forward Sheila Ho-Ching (Long Beach/Wilson HS). Amanda Foster (Los Angeles/Marshall HS), and Mary Has (Long Beach/Millikan HS) also signed National Letters of Intent. At 5-8, Figueroa led all of Orange County with 6.3 assists per game last season to earn first team All-CIF honors for the second time in her career. Figueroa added 7.8 points and 4.0 steals per game, to go along with her 52% clip from the field and a 35% percentage from 3-point range. Ho-Ching is the cousin of current 49er guard Jeannie Saunders, and one of two Long Beach players signed. Ho-Ching, a 5-10 forward, earned second team All-CIF accolades in 2002-03 and is a three-time All-Moore League selection. She averaged 10 points and nine rebounds per game last year. Foster, a 6-0 power forward from Marshall High School, is a two-time League MVP, All-City and All-League selection who injured her ACL prior to her senior season. Has, a 5-8 point guard from Millikan High, was named All-Moore League for the second time in her career last season after averaging 13 points, five assists and six rebounds 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! |
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