49ers Host UC Irvine on Saturday
LBSU Tries to Make it Two in a Row with Travel Partner
February 17, 2004
PDF Version of the Release UC IRVINE (5-16, 4-9 BIG WEST) at LBSU
Saturday, February 21, 2004 | 7:30 p.m.
STATS: 56.4 PPG, 38% FG, 31% 3PT, 67% FT
SERIES: LBSU leads 37-5, having won last 10 in a row with last losses coming in 1998.
The Anteaters have split their last eight Big West games after starting the conference season 0-5... UCI has sustained losing streaks of six and five this season... Big West Player of the Week forward Christina Callaway is averaging 12.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, while Kristen Green leads the club with 12.5 points per game and is averaging 5.8 rebounds per game... Green had 22 points in the first meeting, while Stephanie Duda, who had nine, is out for the season with an MCL injury.
FIRST MEETING
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.
49ERS CONCLUDE HOMESTAND WITH UC IRVINE
Long Beach State (10-12, 6-7 Big West) enters the week a half game behind Cal Poly and CS Fullerton for fourth place in the Big West standings, as they host travel-partner, UC Irvine (5-16, 4-9 Big West) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The 49ers snapped their two-game slide last Saturday with a convincing 74-43 victory over CS Fullerton. Three weeks remain in the regular season, as after Saturday's contest, LBSU will travel out of state for two before returning home with Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara to end the regular season. (All LBSU games can be heard live at www.longbeachstate.com.
BIG WEST STANDINGS
UC Santa Barbara (11-1) has won eight straight and have a magic number of three, as they lead Pacific (10-3) by a game and a half with six to play. Idaho (9-4) remains in third place, three wins in front of fourth place and Cal Poly (6-6) and CS Fullerton (6-6)... the 49ers (6-7) are in sixth place, followed by UC Riverside (5-7)... UC Irvine (4-9) and Utah State (4-9) are battling for the final playoff spot, while CS Northridge remains last at 2-11.
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 is currently 170-103 in 11 seasons. 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 WEEK
LBSU 74, CSF 43: The 49ers swept the season series from the Titans, snapping a two-game losing streak with a convincing 74-43 victory. LBSU shot 49% from the field and held the Titans to just an 18% clip in the first half. CSF managed just eight points until the four minute mark in the first half. Jayme Connors led the club with 14 points and eight rebounds, as the starters gave way to the reserves over the final five minutes
UCR 77, LBSU 60: The Highlanders shot 69% in the second half expanding a one-point halftime lead into a 17-point rout as LBSU managed just 35% for the contest. Despite poor shooting in the first half by both clubs (35% for UCR, 30% for LBSU), UCR found the touch in the second half. The 49ers dropped their second straight Big West contest and moved to 2-4 at home in conference play. Petra Glaser led the 49ers with 16 points, while Lauren Bull hit for double digits for the first time in eight games.
BULL STREAKS FORWARD
Last week senior wing Lauren Bull (Rockford, IL) produced back-to-back 10-point games for the first time in eight games. Back in December and January Bull put together a string of six in a row. Bull has also grabbed a season-high six rebounds in each of the past three games. Bull will finish her career second all-time in career three-pointers has her 93 career three's is tied with Adara Newidouski (1994-97) for second all-time. The next long ball will give her sole possession. Reta Sula (1998-2001) holds the all-time mark with 198 three-pointers.
GOOD STRETCH FOR CONNORS
Sophomore forward Jayme Connors (Las Vegas, NV) continues to rank amongst Big West leaders in rebounding, at 7.9 per game, as she has grabbed at least seven rebounds in the last seven games. Connors is coming off a 14-point, eight-rebound performance against CS Fullerton on Saturday. Connors is averaging10.1 points per game and shooting 47% from the field.
WILSON CONTINUES HOT STRETCH
Junior guard Candice Wilson (Sacramento) has scored at least 10 points in seven of the past nine contests, upping her average to 9.1 points per game. Wilson leads the club with 3.6 assists per game.
GLASER'S STREAK ENDS
Petra Gläser's (Amtsberg, Germany) streak of 20-straight games of 10+ games ended on Saturday after just eight points. The junior did grab seven rebounds two nights after grabbing nine in the loss to UC Riverside. Gläser continues to lead the club with 14.2 points and a 52% clip from the field. Gläser is averaging 5.1 rebounds per game. In the two games she has not hit for double digits, she has scored eight.
MORE THAN A SCORING THREAT
Off-guard Crystal McCutcheon (Lancaster), the team's second leading scorer at 11.0 points per game, may not be scoring as of late, but has grabbed at least four rebounds in each of the past 15 games, giving her the second-best rebounding average at 5.2 per game and leads the club with a 76% clip from the free throw line. McCutcheon is shooting 47% from the field.
HOME NOT SO SWEET
The Beach are 5-6 at home this season, and are teetering on only its second-ever losing season at The Pyramid since the team played full time in the arena starting in 1995-96. In 1997-98, LBSU went 4-7. Last year the 49ers finished up at 7-7, winning its last two. This year the 49ers are shooting just 43% at home.
UCSB GAME MOVED TO GOLD MINE
The 49ers will turn back the clock to the heyday of Long Beach State women's basketball when they move their game with front-runner UC Santa Barbara to the 1,900-seat Gold Mine on March 6 at 7:30 p.m. From 1979 to 1994, the 49ers went 224-37 (.858) overall and 102-14 (.887) in conference play in gym of the old physical education building. LBSU has gone 5-6 in The Pyramid this season.
SENIOR DAY ON MARCH 4
With the team's home finale moved to the Gold Mine, LBSU will honor its two seniors, Lauren Bull (Rockford, IL) and Jennifer Baker (Riverdale, MD), on Thursday, March 4 against Cal Poly prior to the 7:30 p.m. tipoff in The Pyramid.
BIG WEST TOURNAMENT
The Big West Conference will host its annual tournament from March 10 to 13 at the Anaheim Convention Center. For ticket information please contact (562) 985-4949. The top eight teams on both the men's and women's side will be invited to participate.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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! |
