Second Half Begins This Week on the Road
Season's Second Half Looks for Better Results; Beach Just Two Games Out of Fourth
January 29, 2007 PDF VERSION OF THE RELEASE SECOND HALF BEGINS THIS WEEK
The second half of the conference schedule will begin this week when the 49ers (5-16, 2-5 Big West) will travel to first place CS Northridge (9-11, 5-2 Big West) on Thursday and to last place Pacific (7-14, 1-6 Big West) on Saturday. Both games are at 7 p.m. The 49ers enter the week just two games out of fourth place, which would give them a first round bye in the conference tournament. LBSU plays four of the next six at the Walter Pyramid, beginning on February 8.
STREAKS OF NOTE
The 49ers snapped their three-game losing streak last Saturday... Pacific has lost five-straight, starting with LBSU on January 11 and eight of their last nine... CS Northridge's five-game winning streak was snapped at Cal Poly last Saturday as the Matadors have won six of eight.... LBSU defeated Pacific (70-52) and lost to CS Northridge (73-63) the first go around in January.. LBSU is 13-12 in the months of February and March over Hegarty's first three years.
LAST TIME THROUGH
The 49ers first meeting with Pacific led to a 70-52 win at home, as LBSU held the Tigers to just a 29 percent clip and scored a season-high 70 points. LBSU started out strong, leading 28-18 at the half and never looked back... against the Matadors, the 49ers could not get past early foul trouble, falling 73-63... LBSU had trailed by just three midway through the contest, before CSUN pulled away.
SOMETHING ABOUT MARY
Head Coach Mary Hegarty is in her fourth year at the helm, going 216-143 in 13-plus years of coaching at Chapman (160-92) and Long Beach State (56-51). LBSU is coming off an 18-10 campaign in 2006-07 in which the 49ers were co-champions of the Big West and Hegarty was named the Big West Coach of the Year. Hegarty is one of three of the greatest women's basketball players in UCLA History, joining assistants, Hall of Famer Denise Curry and Nicole Anderson.
BIG WEST TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
All eight teams in the Big West Conference will be a part of the annual tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center from Mary 7 to 10. Tiered seeding will be effect, as the top four teams in the conference have some type of bye. For ticket information call (562) 985-4949. All session passes are $60 for both the men and women, or just $30 for all the women's action.
FIGUEROA CONTINUES HOT STRETCH
One player the opponents have to continue to watch is sophomore guard Karina Figueroa (Corona). Figueroa has scored at least 20 points in four of the last five games, averaging a conference-best 21.0 points per game in the team's seven Big West games. Figueroa also ranks 77th nationally in free throw shooting (82%) while scoring at a 14.9 points per game.
AS THE INJURY BUG TURNS
The 49ers will be without the services of forward Amanda Foster (knee) for the rest of the season after she injured her knee in late December. Senior Val Willhoit has not played all season due to back problems. Lauren Sims (leg) is back on the disabled list after re-injuring her leg in practice last week. Sims has missed six of the last seven weeks due to the injury. Sims was a starter to begin the year.
STILL TOUGH AT HOME
Long Beach State is 26-10 over its last 33 home games dating back to Nov. 24, 2004. Also in that span, LBSU has knocked off two ranked opponents (Houston, Dec. 20, 2004, 54-52 and USC, Nov. 23, 2005, 51-46). The 49ers went 13-2 in the Walter Pyramid last season and are 4-6 this year.
DUO JOINS THE RAFTERS
On January 27 the 49ers retired two of its all-time greats when current Sparks General Manager Penny Toler and her No. 4 jersey and Olympic gold medalist Cindy Brown and her No. 53 jersey were official retired. Both were All-Americans at The Beach and both played on the Final Four teams in the mid-1980's. The duo join Wade Trophy winner, LaTaunya Pollard, who played at LBSU in the early 1980's.
DUBIOUS STREAK
With 16 losses this season it is the most for the program since 2003-04 when they went 14-16. The program has won single digits just two times over the past four decades, going 7-19 in 1997-98 under Dallas Bolla and 9-17 in 1992-1993 under Glenn McDonald.
WHERE THEY RANK...
Karina Figueroa ranks 77th nationally in free throw shooting (82%) and is second in the Big West... she also ranks fifth in scoring average (14.9)... Tyresha Calhoun ranks second in assists (4.1), sixth in free throw shooting (74%) and 10th in steals (1.8).
VERY YOUNG FROM THE GET GO
In her fourth season as head coach, Mary Hegarty has her youngest squad in her short tenure at LBSU. However, the 2005-06 conference Coach of the Year is quite optimistic with her 13 newcomers (eight freshmen) and five returnees.
WELCOME THE NEXT WAVE
LaTorya Barbee (Moreno Valley/Canyon Springs HS), Brittany Brumfield (Long Beach/Long Beach Poly HS), and Ashley Bookman (Redondo Beach/Redondo Union HS), have all signed NLI's for the 2007-08 season. SQUAD BREACKDOWN
Seniors 1 (Willhoit); Juniors 3 (Calhoun, Musina, Pagani); Sophomores 4 (Figueroa, O'Brien, Pena, Saucedo); Freshmen 8 (Bagley, Beckner, Jacob, Johnson, Sims, Takata, Timmons, Wade); Redshirt Freshman 1 (Foster)
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