Long Beach State University
LMU
Home Opener Sour For Long Beach State
3/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
November 15, 2007
Long Beach, Calif. - Sophomore Courtney Jacob scored a career high 17 points, but the 49ers fell 83-66 to Loyola Marymount in the 49ers' 2007-08 home opener Thursday night. With the loss, the 49ers drop to 0-2 on the year.
Already pushing through the opening games of the year without senior guard Tyresha Calhoun, the 49ers got another blow with the loss of junior Valeria Musina for Thursday's contest due to a concussion. Long Beach State opened the game with a solid run, but was unable to continue that momentum and the Lions had a solid day offensively. Amanda DeCoud scored 19 points on 8-19 shooting, and Jenna Sybesma added 13 as Loyola Marymount shot 42.1% overall.
Long Beach State wasn't too far behind that total, paced by Jabob's 17, but 0-10 shooting from beyond the arc added to the team's struggles to catch even with the Lions. Junior Kaiti O'Brien also finished in double-digits for the 49ers, and Karina Figueroa added 8.
The 49ers took an early lead in the contest, holding even at 4-4 before putting together an 8-0 run in the first two minutes to take a 12-4 lead after a fast break basket from Lauren Sims. Loyola Marymount worked their way back into the game, taking the lead at 13-12, but the 49ers answered back early to take a 20-17 lead after a layup from Jacob.
That would be the last lead for the 49ers on the night however. LMU would move ahead by one after a DeCoud layup, and more ahead by four following a three-point play from Valerie Ogoke. The first three of the game from Renahy Young broke broke the game open a little, though the 49ers would hammer back with an 8-1 run before a last second shot from the Lions led to a 41-34 halftime score.
Loyola Marymount came out in the second half with a 7-2 run to seize the momentum again, and after the 14-minute mark extended their lead to 25 points via a 14-0 run which put the game out mostly out of reach at 69-44. A slew of late free throws helped the 49ers draw back the score, but never got any closer than the final mark of 83-66.
The 49ers will have an extended break of eight days before their next game and will hope to get healthy in that time. The next action for Long Beach State starts on November 23 when the team kicks off a four-game road trip beginning with San Jose State. Long Beach State returns to the Pyramid in December, hosting Fresno State at 7 p.m. on December 7.
