49ers Set to Open 05-06 Season at TCU, Houston
Season Starts Friday
November 14, 2005 PDF VERSION of this RELEASE 0-0, 0-0 Big West
Home: 0-0 • Away: 0-0 • Neutral: 0-0 GAME #1 - at TCU
GAME #2 - at Houston
Long Beach State at TCU • Friday, Nov. 18 • 5 PM • Daniel Meyer Coliseum
Long Beach State at Houston • Sunday, Nov. 20 • Noon • Hofheinz Pavilion
Both Games on www.longbeachstate.com Quickly:
The Long Beach State women's basketball team kicks off the 2005-06 season with a pair of road games at TCU on Friday, Nov. 18 at 5 pm (pst) and at Houston on Sunday, Nov. 20 at Noon (pst). This will be the first meeting between LBSU-TCU, and the fourth meeting with Houston. Long Beach State owns a 3-0 season-series record against the Cougars, including a 54-52 win on Dec. 20 at The Walter Pyramid last season. Houston was ranked No. 15 in that meeting. Both TCU and Houston advanced to the NCAA post-season last year.
Season Openers:
Long Beach State is 1-5 in season openers since the 2000-01 season (1-1 under head coach Mary Hegarty). The 49ers won their season-opener last lear (61-53 over Montana) at The Walter Pyramid.
Game Recap vs. Team Concept (Nov. 10)
The Long Beach State women's basketball team needed overtime to defeat Team Concept, 65-55, in its final exhibition game of pre-season on Thursday night from The Walter Pyramid. Senior Jayme Connors paced the 49ers with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Crystal McCutcheon (13 points), Jeannie Saunders (11 points), and Fernanda Santos (11 points) highlighted the top LBSU scoring leaders. The Beach shot just 37 percent from the field (22-of-59), but out-rebounded Team Concept, 48-34. Constance Jinks led Team Concept with 18 points. Team Concept held a 52-50 lead with four seconds left in regulation after two successful free throws from Rometra Craig. After a Long Beach State timeout, Connors threw a baseball like pass from the baseline to a streaking McCutcheon down the center of the court for a layup to tie the game at 52-52. In the overtime frame, Long Beach State grabbed a four-point lead at 59-55 after a McCutcheon layup, and pushed its lead to eight after a Santos layup. Another Santos layup with 54 seconds left sealed the 10-point victory. Long Beach State used a 15-0 run in the final 3:48 of the first half to lead 28-17 at halftime.
Game Recap vs. Love & Basketball (Nov. 1):
The Long Beach State women's basketball team defeated Love and Basketball, 60-58 on a game-winning layup by senior Fernanda Santos with one second left on the clock, in its pre-season exhibition game at The Walter Pyramid on Tuesday night. Santos finished the contest with 16 points and four rebounds, while teammate Crystal McCutcheon poured in a game-high 18 points, to go along with three steals and three assists. Jayme Connors pulled down 14 rebounds. Freshman Karina Figueroa dished out the game-winning assist, and finished the game with six points and nine assists. After Natalie Nakase converted a three-point play for Love and Basketball to knot the score at 58-58, Long Beach State took advantage of a Love and Basketball turnover with just over five seconds left in the game. Out of the timeout, Figueroa received the in bounds pass from Santos, and dished back to Santos who drove to the basket for the winning layup.
49ers Ink Six for the 2006-07 Season:
Long Beach State women's basketball head coach, Mary Hegarty, announced that six players, Lauren Bagley, Sherissa Bayes, Lindsey Beckner, Nondi Johnson, Lauren Sims, and Ally Wade have all signed National Letters-of-Intent to enroll at Long Beach State for the 2006-07 season. "It's a very talented and deep recruiting class," said Hegarty. "We addressed all of our needs at the post position with four new post players. This class has a strong work ethic and strong academic backgrounds. They will fit nicely with the players we have returning next season. This class will help take our program to the next level."
Big West Pre-Season Predictions are Out:
The Big West Conference had its annual media day on Nov. 2 and the Long Beach State women's basketball team was picked to finish second by both the conference's eight coaches and the media. Senior Crystal McCutcheon also made the pre-season all-conference team. In the media poll, the women compiled 67 points, with one first place vote behind UCSB's 79 points and nine first place votes. In the coaches poll, the women received two first place votes and 43 overall points to UCSB's 46.
Seven Wins Shy:
Third year head coach Mary Hegarty is just seven wins shy of 200 for her career. Hegarty has compiled 193 wins in 13 years of coaching.
Four Double-Headers this Season:
The 49er women will play four double-headers with the men's team this season. The first will be on December 30 as the women host South Dakota State (5 pm) and the men Cornell (7:30 pm). On January 28 both teams will tangle with UC Irvine in The Walter Pyramid (2 & 5 pm). February 11 will be Homecoming on the 49er campus and the women will take on Pacific (3 pm) while the men tangle with UCSB (5:30 pm). The final double-header will be on March 4 at UC Irvine (4 & 7 pm).
The Beach on TV:
When Long Beach State tangles with UC Santa Barbara on February 18 in Santa Barbara, the game will be aired on Fox Sports West 2 at 5:00 p.m.
The 05-06 Schedule:
Five of Long Beach State's non-conference opponents advanced to the NCAA post-season last season, including TCU, Houston, USC, Montana, and Richmond. Conference rival, UC Santa Barbara also advanced to the NCAA post-season as well.
Quick Glance at 2005-06:
After posting its best record since the 1999-2000 season, expectations are rising for the Long Beach State women's basketball program. The 49ers finished the 2004-05 season with a 19-9 mark (.679) and a second place regular season finish in the Big West Conference. The 49ers also produced five all-conference selections and ranked statistically No. 2 in scoring offense and No. 1 in scoring defense.
• Hegarty will rely on Long Beach State's six returnees (two of which were starters last season)
• A breakdown of this year's roster has four seniors, (Crystal McCutcheon, Jayme Connors, Meghan Griffith, and Fernanda Santos) two juniors (Val Willhoit, Rosalyn Omoruyi), one sophomore (Jeannie Saunders), and seven freshmen (Randi Cameron, Kaiti O'Brien, Mary Has, Brittney Parker, Amanda Foster, Karina Figueroa, and Jamie Rogers). Of the 14 players, eight are newcomers.
#3 Crystal McCutcheon
• The 5-9 two-guard enjoyed her finest season in a 49er uniform last season, averaging 12.5 points per game, while shooting a team-best .471 from three-point range. In fact McCutcheon's 47% accuracy from beyond the arc was tops in the league. McCutcheon also displayed defensive prowess, averaging 2.32 steals per game, second in the Big West. Those numbers were good enough to land her a spot on the all-conference second team
#33 Jeannie Saunders
• Big West All-Freshmen team in 2004-05
• Set a new school freshman record for 3-point field goal percentage (.417). Saunders also averaged 6.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, to go along with 45 steals
#12 Val Willhoit
• Averaged 1.5 points and 1.8 points per game last season
• Long Beach State has plenty of depth and options at the forward position this season. •The veteran leadership from Jayme Connors will be the most important key for the 49ers' success in the post in 05-06
#25 Jayme Connors
• Averaged 7.4 points and 7.5 rebounds last season#55 Fernanda Santos
#55 Fernanda Santos
• Averaged 4.3 points and pulled down 75 boards, while blocking 11 shots last season
#45 Meghan Griffith
• Had 20 points and 19 rebounds in 14 games played last season
• Eight newcomers comprise the 2005-06 squad, including guards Karina Figueroa and Mary Has
• Hegarty has plenty of resources to tap into at the forward position as well, including Randi Cameron and Rosalyn Omoruyi
• The 49ers added three walk-ons to this year's squad in Kaiti O'Brien, Jamie Rogers, and Brittney Parker. |
