Long Beach State University Athletics
Wade, Figueroa Beat Fairfield
12/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Figueroa, Wade Score Second-Straight Win
LONG BEACH, CA-- Karina Figueroa hit the game-winning jumper with 4.6 seconds left and Ally Wade scored a career-high 20 points in leading Long Beach State (3-11) to a 62-61 victory over visiting Fairfield (6-6) after the Stags rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit. Sabra Wrice, who finished with a team-high 18 points, had her halfcourt shot rim out at the buzzer for Fairfield, who snapped their four-game winning streak. The 49ers head into conference play next week having won two in a row. Moments earlier, Wrice had given Fairfield a 61-60 lead with 24 seconds left, scoring on a fastbreak layup after the 49ers missed a shot with 30 seconds left. Figueroa finished with 14 points, while Wade shot 6-of-10 from the field and hit a key three-pointer with 1:30 left to put the 49ers up 60-57. LBSU shot 36 percent for the contest, while the Stags shot 32 percent, staying in the game by outrebounding The Beach 50-to-34 in the contest. Fairfield led for the first time on a Stephanie Cziria jumper at 8:27, leading 46-45, before LBSU took back the lead on the next possession. The Stags had closed to within one, four times previously. The Stags would lead twice more after that, but no more by a single point. LBSU's 16-point halftime lead was quickly erased after the first two and a half minutes of the second frame. The Stags bolted out to a 17-4 run to start the second half, closing to within 36-33 with 17:26 left as a Cara Murphy three capped a 12-0 run. The 49ers closed the half on a 16-4 run to lead 32-16. LBSU took a 27-16 lead following a Wade three-pointer with a minute left, after the Stags closed to within four at the eight-minute mark. Fairfield shot just 19 percent in the first half, while LBSU shot 38 percent. Wade's three-pointer made it 7-0 with 17:07 left, forcing a Fairfield timeout moments later as the Stags missed their first seven shots. Figueroa's three-point play made it 10-0 at 16:15 as LBSU extended to a 16-3 start. Fairfield rebounded after missing nine of their first 10 shots to go on a 9-0 run and close to within 16-12 and force a 49er timeout at 8:22. The 49ers were without forward Amanda Foster (knee), who was injured in the first half on Thursday, along with Randi Cameron (knee), Lauren Sims (left leg) and Val Willhoit (back). Sims and Cameron are both expected to return next week, Foster is day-to-day. The 49ers open up Big West play next week, when they travel to the Central Coast to take on co-champion, UC Santa Barbara on January 4 and Cal Poly on January 6. Fairfield returns to the East Coast to play at St. Francis (NY) on January 2. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
