Long Beach State University Athletics
March Madness Begins in Anaheim
3/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
49ers Begin NCAA March on Friday Record: 19-8 Big West: 13-5 (2nd) | Home: 11-2 | Away: 8-5 | Neutral: 0-1 CONFERENCE CAPSULES 2. LONG BEACH STATE (19-8, 13-5): Have won seven of their last nine featuring five All-Big West performers led by first team All-Big West selection Aisha Hollans and her 15.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game... they rank first in the Big West in shooting and three-point percentage and second in scoring... first game on Friday. 3. IDAHO (17-10, 12-6): Feature the conference's leading scorer in first team All-Big West Emily Faurholt and her 23.0 points per game and fellow first teamer Leilani Mitchell... Faurholt led the nation in scoring last season... have lost four of six heading into tournament... Idaho ranks first in free throw shooting and third in scoring (66.0)... begin play on Thursday. 4. CS NORTHRIDGE (17-10, 11-7): Ofa Tulikihihifo was named first team All-Big West for the third-straight season after averaging 19.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game during the regular season... CSUN ranks third in rebounding, shooting and free throw shooting.... they have won 10 of 13 heading into play... the Matadors begin play on Thursday. 5. UC RIVERSIDE (15-12, 10-8): Big West Freshman of the Year Kemi Nkele led the league in blocks and averaged 16.8 points per game... UCR has gone 4-3 over its last seven contests... the Highlanders rank fourth in rebounding and shooting but just eighth in scoring... they open up against eighth-seeded CS Fullerton on Wednesday. 6. UTAH STATE (14-13, 9-9): The second-year program features honorable mention selections junior center Ali Aird, forward Brittany Tressler and freshman guard Taylor Richards... USU ranks fifth in scoring and rebounding... they have lost five of seven heading into play on Wednesday against seventh-seeded UC Irvine. 7. UC IRVINE (7-20, 6-12): A coaching change just prior to conference saw the team break into the tournament winning three of their last four... prior to the coaching switch, they had going 0-7... sophomore forward Angie Ned earned second team honors... the Anteaters upset Idaho to knock them out of the top two seeds... they open up play with Utah State on Wednesday. 8. CS FULLERTON (8-19, 6-12): Sophomore guard Charlee Underwood leads the club after being named honorable mention All-Big West... the Titans have won three straight and four of six heading into Wednesday's showdown with fifth-seeded UC Riverside... the Titans rank last in shooting and three-point shooting and ninth in scoring at 60.1 points per game. 49ERS IN THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT: As a franchise, the 49ers carry a 30-14 record in the conference tournament, since 1986, reaching the Big West finals 10 times and winning it four times, their last in 1991. Their last appearance in the Big West Championship Game was in 2001. Last year The Beach as the fifth seed, won the play-in game over Utah State, upset fourth-seeded Cal Poly and lost to eventual NCAA participant UC Santa Barbara. Against the current membership of Big West opponents, LBSU is 15-11, having never lost to CS Fullerton (2-0), Idaho (1-0), or Utah State (1-0). The 49ers are 3-2 against Pacific. UC Irvine (1-2) and UC Santa Barbara (3-7) are the only teams with winning records against The Beach. LBSU has never played CS Northridge. COULDN'T TOSS A BEAN BAG? BUY A TICKET: For those of you you could not toss a bean bag into the center circle at a Pyramid home event this season, to win free tickets, you can go the old fashion way by purchasing tickets for the 2005 Big West Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament through the Pyramid Box Office at (562) 985-7565. The first round featuring the fifth through eighth seeds will be on Wednesday March 9, the winners of those games will move on to play the third and fourth seeds on Thursday. On Friday the top two seeds will play the remaining winners with a chance to play for the championship on Saturday at 1 p.m. 49ERS STUMBLE NEAR THE END, STILL HOT: The 49ers, with a chance at a share of the Big West title last week, stumbled twice falling by a combined 10 points at Cal Poly and at UC Santa Barbara. The Beach are still one of the hottest teams in the Big West Tournament having produced two winning streaks of seven games during January and February. They enter Friday's competition winners of seven of their last nine and 15 of their last 19. If you take out the team's 15-point loss at Idaho on January 27, the 49ers other seven losses are by a combined 30 points. FIVE NAMED ALL-BIG WEST: Five members of the 49ers were named All-Big West this week, a record for the franchise. Senior guard Aisha Hollans (Berkeley) was named first team all-conference for the second time in her career, after earning first team All-Pac 10 accolades as a sophomore at USC. Junior wing Crystal McCutcheon (Lancaster) was named to the second team along with senior center Petra Gläser (Amtsberg, Germany). For Gläser, this is her second-straight year on the second team. Senior point guard Candice Wilson (Sacramento) earned her third-straight all-conference award, being named honorable mention for the second-straight season. She was a second teamer as a sophomore. Guard Jeannie Saunders (Long Beach/Wilson HS) was named to the All-Freshman Team. STAR-STUDDED COACHING STAFF: Forty-Niner Head Coach Mary Hegarty (193-119) is in 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. DEFENDERS OF THE BIG WEST: The 49ers finished the regular season leading the Big West in defense, allowing just 59.7 points per game. Over the season, LBSU has allowed 50 or fewer points eight times. Opponents are managing an overall clip of just 38 percent and just 29 percent from beyond the arc. Only one team this season has beaten The Beach by more than six points (Idaho) as opponents have scored over 70 points against the team four times all season (a 2-2 mark), and just twice in 2005. WINNERS AT THE PYRAMID: The 49ers completed an 11-2 mark at The Pyramid this season, the second most wins at the arena since it opened in 1994. The Beach went a record 12-2 in 1998-99. LBSU is 8-6 away from home this season. HOLLANS POSTS STRONG SEASON: First team All-Big West guard Aisha Hollans (Berkeley) has posted a solid final collegiate season after transferring from USC, posting 10 double-doubles on the season, including five in a row in December, and leading the 49ers with 15.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Hollans has scored at least 20 points four times, including 20 last week against Utah State and an LBSU-best 27 against UC Irvine on January 19. Hollans has hit for double digits in all but four games this season. Hollans finished the regular season seventh in scoring, and fourth in rebounding. SHARP SHOOTING CRYSTAL: Second team All-Big West win Crystal McCutcheon (Lancaster) continues to lead the Big West in three-point shooting at 46 percent shooting as the junior also ranks second in steals (2.4) fourth in shooting (47 percent), seventh in free throw shooting (78 percent), and eighth in scoring (13.7 points per game). McCutcheon has hit for double digits 19 times, including eight of the last 10 contests. McCutcheon had a career-high 24 points against Idaho on February 26. GLASER CONTINUES SOLID SENIOR SEASON: Six-foot-six center Petra Gläser (Amtsberg, Germany) has been a consistent force up front for The Beach all season, averaging 12.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game this season. Her scoring ranks 11th-best in the Big West, while her rebounding is 10th as she has hit four double digits in 19 of 27 games, including eight of the last 11. Gläser has five double doubles on the season, including two over the last two weeks of the season. WORKING THE BOOKS: Senior center Petra Gläser (Amtsberg, Germany) a member of the German National Team is not only getting it done on the floor, but in the classroom as the international business major was named an Academic All-District selection by CoSIDA. Gläser, a transfer from UNLV,, is likely to become a two-time academic All-Big West selection as well. SANTOS ADJUSTS TO THE POST: With the lack of depth at the post this season, 6-3 Fernanda Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil) was forced to learn a new position from her more natural guard spot. Santos, listed as a guard and more comfortable shooting three's for the Brazilian Junior National Team, has adjusted well to the post scoring a season-high 12 points at Idaho on January 27 and averaging 4.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game in her first Division-I season. CONNORS GRABS THE REBOUNDS: Junior post Jayme Connors (Las Vegas) continues to rebound with the best of them this season, ranking eighth in the Big West with 7.4 rebounds per game. Connors grabbed a season-best 14 December 30 against Cal Poly and has seven double digit rebound games on the season. Connors re-injured her ankle early in the year as her production has cooled after grabbing double digit rebounds in five of the first nine contests. SAUNDERS GET ACCLIMATED TO DIVISION-I PLAY: At times, Jeannie Saunders (Long Beach) has played like, well, a freshman. At other times, she has played well beyond her one season of Division-I, scoring a season-best 17 points at CS Northridge on January 8. Overall it has been a successful season for Saunders, who was named to the All-Freshman Team, and who has started seven games, averaging 6.9 points per game, while shooting 47 percent from the field. Saunders ranks 10th in the Big West in steals (1.6). SEVENTH HEAVEN: The 49ers seven-game win streak and 11-4 start the season were both bests since the team routinely made it into the NCAA Tournament in the early 1990's, a streak the current team is currently on. During the streak from December 30 until January 19, The Beach outscored opponents by nearly 16 points per game. This time around, LBSU is averaging nearly 20 points better than opponents and shooting 47 percent from the field. HOARDING THE BIG WEST LUMBER: LBSU garnered four Big West Player of the Week awards this season, Aisha Hollans on January 11 and February 14 and Crystal McCutcheon on December 6 and December 27. 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. 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! SCHWARZENEGGER'S BIG WEST: Coming in 2005-06 the Big West Conference will become an all California conference with the exit of Idaho and Utah State and the addition of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's neighbor, UC Davis. Davis, near Sacramento, and we don't mean Gray, will become a full member in 2007-08. |
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