Long Beach State University Athletics
Hegarty's Drive Pushes 49ers
3/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | General
Hegarty's Drive Pushes 49ers Mary Hegarty loves the sport she coaches and says she can spend an entire day just watching basketball. Playing it at this point, however, is another matter to the second-year Long Beach State women's basketball coach. But definitely not because of any issue with fitness for UCLA's single-season assists record holder. "I tried playing pickup basketball for fun, and I can't play it for fun. I get too intense, I get too mad at myself," said Hegarty, who had 240 of her 528 career assists as a freshman to hold that mark. "I'd leave a pickup game or an intramural game, and all night I'd be replaying it. So I got into running and biking and triathlons and marathons, just to be more competitive with myself, without worrying about a game. It's been a way that I take that competitiveness and put it into fitness, because I was driving myself crazy trying to play basketball." Hegarty, who takes an overall LBSU record of 33-24 (19-8 this season) into today's 2 p.m. (time approximate) Big West Conference tournament semifinal game against Idaho, ran three marathons before a foot injury sidelined her six years ago. Cycling did not seem to worsen her foot's condition, which she likened to a stress fracture that will not heal. And Hegarty quickly chose a role model in the sport. In a nod to six-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstong's Livestrong' bracelets, Hegarty and the 49ers wear their own motivational bracelets, which remind them to "Get after it." "Growing up, I always had people that inspired me and motivated me, and that I tried to emulate," Hegarty said. "As a coach, (motivating and inspiring) kind of became my job, and he was the first person, the first story that I heard that inspired me in that sort of way. It was neat, just what he's overcome, and his work ethic and his preparation. I've been called a fanatic, but I won't go that far." Today, Hegarty leads the 49ers into the rubber game of the season series against the Vandals at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena. Each team won at home in the matchup this season. As the second-place finisher during the regular season, LBSU earned a bye until today to already match last season's Big West semifinal run, while third-place Idaho defeated UC Irvine on Thursday to advance. LBSU enters the game on a two-game skid, having dropped its final two games of the regular season at Cal Poly and 10-time champion UC Santa Barbara. "We can't worry about what's just happened this past week, we've got to look forward to what's next," said 49er assistant coach Denise Curry, who like Hegarty and fellow assistant Nicole Anderson was named to the list of UCLA's top 15 women's basketball players of all time. "Our kids are going to be ready to play. I don't think that shook their confidence at all." The last two games marked the first consecutive losses of the Big West campaign for the 49ers, who feed off of their coach's confidence and belief in Long Beach State. "'With my staff, I think that we can be a perennial top-20 team. Obviously, we've got to get in the top 20 first," said Hegarty, who arrived at LBSU after 10 seasons as coach at Chapman University. "And I think whenever you're building something, it's not going to be an overnight success, and it's real important that you build a strong foundation, brick by brick. I'm real pleased with where we are so far, and we haven't taken any shortcuts. I fell like, if we just keep working the way we are, that we'll continue and hopefully make that next step, which would be advancing to the NCAA tournament." Hegarty's belief in the LBSU program extends also to making sure her players do the right thing off the court. "She's really big on academics, she'll let kids leave practice to be to class on time," junior power forward Jayme Connors said. "She understands that, and she has academics come before the majority of things. She really wants us all to be successful, and will do whatever she can to help us get there." |
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