McCutcheon Named BWC Player of the Year
Hegarty Named Coach of the Year; Five All-Conference Performers this Season
March 6, 2006 2005-06 Big West All-Conference Teams IRVINE, CA – Long Beach State senior Crystal McCutcheon was selected as the 2005-06 Big West Conference Player of the Year, while head coach Mary Hegarty was chosen as the conference Coach of the Year, as announced by the league office on Monday.
McCutcheon joined LaTaunya Pollard, Cindy Brown, Penny Toler, and Jackie Moore as the only other 49ers to earn Player of the Year honors. Moore was the last 49er to win the award in 2001.
The 5-9 guard from Lancaster averaged a league-best 17 points per game this season, and scored 29 points (career-high) on two occasions (vs. LMU on Dec. 17 and UC Davis on Feb. 25). McCutcheon shot 83 percent from the charity stripe this season (No. 1 in the Big West) and made 60 three-point field goals. Her 116 career three-point field goals rank her No. 2 all-time in program history. McCutcheon has scored in double figures 23 times this season, including 21 of her last 23 games.
In just her third season at the helm of the women's basketball program, Hegarty guided the 49ers to their first conference championship since the 1990-91 season. Under Hegarty, Long Beach State has gone 23-9 in conference play over the last two seasons. Hegarty won her 200th career game vs. South Dakota State on Dec. 30. Hegarty became just the second coach in 49er history to earn Coach of the Year honors (Joan Bonvicini, 1985-86).
A total of five Long Beach State athletes were named to the Big West all-conference team. McCutcheon headlined the first-team, while Fernanda Santos landed second-team honors. Jayme Connors, Karina Figueroa, and Jeannie Saunders all landed honorable mention nods. Figueroa also landed a spot on the All-Freshman Team. The five all-conference selections ties last season's school record of five all-conference selections.
Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil) earned second team honors after averaging 11 points per game in conference play this season. Santos registered a career-best 23 points to go along with 11 rebounds in the 81-75 double-overtime win over NCAA tournament bound Pepperdine on Dec. 21. The 6-2 senior forward registered five double-doubles and recorded a career-best 15 rebounds at UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 18.
Connors (Las Vegas, NV) passed Angelique Lee as the all-time program leader in defensive rebounds with 575 this season. The 6-2 senior forward registered nine double-doubles, and led the Big West Conference in rebounding at 9.9 per game. She became the seventh player in program history, and first since Melissa Gower in 1995 to pull down 20-plus rebounds (21) in a single-game (Pepperdine, Dec. 21). It was also a career-high for Connors.
Figueroa (Corona) opened the 2005-06 campaign with a double-double (23 points and 10 assists) at TCU, and averaged 11.8 points per game in conference play, before a foot injury sidelined her, at UC Riverside on Feb. 2. Figueroa started all 20 games as a true freshman prior to her injury.
Saunders (Long Beach) has ended the season on an offensive tear, and has scored in double-figures in five of her last six games. The 5-8 sophomore guard has averaged 15.3 points per game during that stretch, and connected for a career-high 28 points at Cal Poly on Feb. 16. Saunders has scored in double figures 13 times and has dished out a team-high 74 assists this season.
Long Beach State will compete in the upcoming Big West Conference Basketball Tournament, Mar. 8-11. The 49ers earned a No. 2-seed and will play in the conference semifinals on Mar. 10 vs. the highest remaining seed in the tournament.
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