Beach Head to Utah State, Idaho
LBSU Battles for Tournament Seeding With Two Weeks Left in Regular Season
February 24, 2004
PDF File of the Release 49ERS HIT THE ROAD TO UTAH STATE AND IDAHO
Long Beach State (10-13, 6-8 Big West), losers of three of their last five, will try to get back on track when they travel to Utah State (4-19, 4-11 Big West) on Thursday at 6 p.m. PST and Idaho (19-5, 11-4 Big West) on Saturday at 7 p.m. The 49ers have gone 4-3 in the Big West on the road and look to continue that streak with its first out of state road trip since late November. The 49ers close out the regular season next week when they host Central Coast foes Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara. All LBSU games can be heard live at www.longbeachstate.com. at UTAH STATE (4-19, 4-11 BIG WEST), Thursday, February 26, 2004 | 6 p.m. PST
STATS: 58.0 PPG, 37% FG, 30% 3PT, 69% FT
SERIES: The series is tied 1-1 after the Aggies three-point win back on January 31, 63-60 at The Pyramid.
The first year program has pick up all four of its wins in Big West play, most recently four games ago against CS Northridge... USU opened the season on a 10-game losing streak... Ali Aird leads the club with 12.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while shooting 60%... Christina Zdenek has 11.3 points per game.
FIRST MEETING
Utah State 63, LBSU 60: The Aggies, in their first year of Division-I, upset The Beach 63-60 scrapping their way back from a four-point halftime deficit, hold LBSU to just 37% shooting in the second half. Crystal McCutcheon's three-pointer and Petra Gläser's offensive putback were both short in the closing seconds. Jayme Connors had her fourth double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds.
at IDAHO (19-5, 11-4 BIG WEST), Saturday, February 28 | 7 p.m.
STATS: 71.3 PPG, 45% FG, 38% 3PT, 74% FT
SERIES: LBSU leads the all-time series 10-2 after the 75-67 win at The Pyramid on January 29.
Idaho is riding a five-game win streak into the week... this week's games will be moved to Memorial Gym due to a Festival in the Cowan Spectrum... Idaho's 11 wins in Big West play are the most for the team since 1990... Emily Faurholt is coming off a 39-point effort against CS Fullerton and 31 more points against UC Riverside, upping her nation's-best scoring average to 25.3 points per game... Faurholt is also averaging 6.9 rebounds per game, best on the team... Leilani Mitchell has 15.9 points and 6.1 assists per game, while Heather Thoelke is averaging 10.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
FIRST MEETING
LBSU 75, Idaho 67: The 49ers shot a season-high 63%, taking a 10-point halftime lead and never looking back. Petra Gläser and Jayme Connors combined for 30 points as Idaho entered the game amongst the conference leaders at 5-2 after a win over UC Santa Barbara. The 49ers won their fourth in a row and evened their Big West mark at 4-4, outrebounding their fourth straight opponent. Crystal McCutcheon scored 14 points and added nine rebounds and six assists.
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 170-104 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 TWO WEEKS
UCI 60, LBSU 50: The 49ers were hitting all cylinders in the first half, leading by 10 and shooting 50%, then the second half hit and the 49ers managed just a 27% clip, while UCI's reversal of fortunes equated to a 63% shooting percentage. The Anteaters shot just 30% in the first half. Christina Mack had a season-high 13 points, while Petra Gläser tallied a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. It was the team's lowest scoring output since game three of the season.
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.
BIG WEST STANDINGS
Four teams have clinched berths in the Big West Tournament in Anaheim in two weeks, led by UC Santa Barbara (13-1), whose magic number is one over Idaho (11-4) and Pacific (11-4)... CS Fullerton is currently in fourth place (7-7)... the 49ers are tied for fifth place with UC Riverside and Cal Poly, at 6-8, while UC Irvine is a game back at 5-9... Utah State is in ninth place at 4-11, while CS Northridge is 3-12.
TOURNAMENT PICTURE
The 49ers, who were picked to finish third in the pre-season, can finish as high as fourth in the standings, if they finish tied with CS Fullerton, or as of right now, are ahead of UC Riverside or Cal Poly. LBSU won both games with the Titans, split the season with UC Riverside and UC Irvine, and is down a game to Cal Poly with the other matchup coming on March 4. Tournament seeding is based first on head-to-head, and then on how each team did against the #1, #2, etc. seeds. The top two seeds will receive two byes, while the #3 and #4 seeds will receive first round byes. Seeds #5 to #8 play in a mini-playoff on Wednesday, March 10, before playing the #3 or #4 seed on March 11. Those winners play the #1 and #2 seeds. For ticket information please call The Pyramid Box Office at (562) 985-4949.
HELTER-SKELTER OFFENSE
The Beach's inconsistent season continues from the field, a game after shooting 58% against CS Fullerton, LBSU hit just 36% against UC Irvine. In fact, the 49ers have shot better than 45% just once over the past six contests and have put together back-to-back 50% nights just twice this season (late January and mid-December).
GLASER GRABBING THE BOARDS
Center Petra Gläser is averaging 9.0 rebounds per game over her last three contests after a double-double last Saturday. Gläser continues to lead the club with a 14.0 clip from the field and a 52% shooting touch.
BACKCOURT EVENING OUT
The three-guard lineup of Crystal McCutcheon, Christina Mack and Candice Wilson have combined for 57 points of the past two contests, an average of 9.5 points per player. One of the three has hit for double digits in each of the past 14 contests, with all three hitting double digits last on January 29 versus Idaho.
WILSON CONTINUES TO SIMMER
Point guard Candice Wilson has hit for double digits in seven of the past 10 contests, upping her average to 9.1 points per game.
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.
MANY NEW FACES FOR 2004-05
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. 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.... 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 at USC... 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.
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! |
