Long Beach State University Athletics
First Place Niners Host Two
1/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
49ers Close Out Homestand with UCI, UC Davis Record: 9-4 Big West: 5-1 | Home: 6-1 | Away: 3-2 | Neutral: 0-1 A LOOK AT THE OPPOSITION UC DAVIS: UC Davis enters the week at 5-11 overall, having lost three straight, at UC Santa Barbara (85-67), at Cal Poly (69-62) and to UC Riverside (75-62)... UCD has defeated UC Irvine and CS Fullerton this season amongst future conference foes... the Aggies previously competed in the California Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division-II level prior to their move to Division-I this season... three players average double figures, led by sophomore post player Ellen Porshneva's 13.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game and junior guard Kimberly Smith's 11.9 points per game.... sophomore wing Jessica Campbell is averaging 10.3 points per game... Sandy Simpson is in his eighth season as head coach. LAST WEEK LBSU 76, CS Fullerton 68: The Beach remained in first place with a 22-2 run to hold on and defeat visiting CS Fullerton 76-68 on Thursday night. The Titans dropped their eighth straight (and then again to UCI on Saturday). Crystal McCutcheon after a slight scoring slump, rebounded with a team-high 17 points, leading five 49ers in double digits. Aisha Hollans and Jeannie Saunders added 12 points a piece, while Petra Gläser and Fernanda Santos had 10 points a piece. LBSU shot 46 percent for the game and 45 percent in the second half. STAR-STUDDED COACHING STAFF: Forty-Niner Head Coach Mary Hegarty (181-112) is entering her second year as head coach of the program after 10 successful years and four NCAA appearances 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. IT'S NICE AT THE TOP: The 49ers, at 5-1, hold a half game lead over the rest of the BIg West to enter the week, as both Idaho and UC Santa Barbara are 4-1. LBSU has remained in first place for the previous two weeks, after being picked to finish third in the Big West. HOLLANS CONTINUES HER IN-N-OUT PERFORMANCES: Senior guard Aisha Hollans (Berkeley) has cooked up six double-doubles (the point and rebound variety, not the burgers made popular by the Southern California burger chain) in nine games this season, giving her a team-best 16.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. Those averages would rank fifth in scoring and second in rebounding, if Hollans were eligible for inclusion in the statistics. Hollans needs to play in 75 percent of the team's games (she's at 69 percent), as she missed the first four games due to NCAA certification. Hollans grabbed an LBSU-best 24 points at CS Northridge two weeks ago, and grabbed a season-best 14 rebounds against Cal Poly to open the season. GLASER FEELING A GROOVE: Petra Gläser (Amtsberg, Germany) has begun an assault from the middle of the court over the first half of the conference season, tallying doube digits in each of her last six games, including her second double-double of the season, 18 points and 10 rebounds against UC Riverside last Saturday. Gläser is currently third on the team in scoring with 13.5 points per game to go along with 6.8 rebounds per game. Gläser is eighth in the Big West in scoring, third in shooting (48 percent) and ninth in rebounding. McCUTCHEON COOLS: Junior wing Crystal McCutcheon (Lancaster), a two-time Big West Player of the Week after tallying double digits in eight of her first 10 games, has managed just one double-digit game in her lsat four contests. The one, a 17-point outburst against CS Fullerton, helped The Beach win their fourth-straight last Thursday. McCutcheon still one of the top overall players in the Big West ranking in the top-10 in a number of different categories, ranking seventh in the Big West in scoring, at 13.6 points per game, ninth in assists (3.4), second in steals (2.4), and third in three-point shooting (44 percent). WILSON EDGED OUT ON ASSISTS: Senior point guard Candice Wilson (Sacramento) dropped to second in the Big West in assists this week, at 4.9 per game, as Big West Player of the Week Idaho's Leilani Mitchell continued to flip flop with Wilson over the passing supremacy in the conference. Mitchell is averaging 5.5 assists per game. Wilson tallied a career-best 13 assists in the win at CS Northridge last Saturday. SAUNDERS HEATING UP: Freshman guard Jeannie Saunders, an All-CIF out of nearby Wilson High last season, has begun to get comfortable in Division-I, averaging 12.0 points per game over her previous three contests. The streak included a career-tying 17 points in the win at CS Northridge. Saunders grabbed a career-best six rebounds last Saturday over UC Riverside. Saunders is averaging 6.8 points per game this season. TOP OFFENSE IN THE BIG WEST: The 49ers feature the top offense in the Big West at 69.7 points per game, and are the only franchise with three players scoring over 13 points per game. LBSU also has the best assist to turnover ratio in the conference and one of the best shoot percentages (43 percent from the floor and 73 percent from the foul line). The 49ers also lead the Big West in assists, dishing out just about 16 per game. HOARDING THE BIG WEST LUMBER: So far this season, LBSU has garnered three Big West Player of the Week awards, Aisha Hollans on January 11 and Crystal McCutcheon on December 6 and December 27, the most of any team. 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. 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 careers. 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. Crystal McCutcheon (Lancaster) is coming off a 10.0 points per game clip last season, while Candice Wilson (Sacramento) average. 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! 2004-05 BIG WEST CONFERENCE STANDINGS PRE-SEASON COACHES POLL MEDIA PRE-SEASON POLL |
|
|
Copyrighted by Long Beach State and www.longbeachstate.com. All rights reserved worldwide.
No portion of this site may be reproduced or duplicated without the express written Please contact the webmaster should you find an error or out of date link.
