Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
4-1
Northern Arizona
1-3
Beach Downs NAU, 69-48, in Tournament Opener
11/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Box Score (html) | Box Score (PDF) 
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The Long Beach State women's basketball team used a strong third quarter to run away with a 69-48 win over Northern Arizona in its first game of the Aggie Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic Friday afternoon at the Pan American Center.
The Beach (4-1) used a team effort to pick up its fourth victory of the young season with five players scoring in double figures. Junior Anna Kim and sophomore Cecily Wilson led the way with 11 points each, while junior Jewelyn Sawyer, sophomore Jessica Gertz and freshman Chanterria Jackson all had 10 points. That was a career high for Gertz who was 4-for-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
Junior Raven Benton added a season-best nine rebounds, and Madison Montgomery contributed six points, three boards and three assists.
"We played unselfish basketball," LBSU head coach Jody Wynn said. " I think we made a concentrated effort in the third quarter to defend without fouling and to play team ball."
"Madison Montgomery didn't have a big stat line, but she was a huge impact in this game," Wynn added. "She's a match-up problem for a lot of people and really played a nice game."
LBSU shot 42.4 percent (25-59) from the floor and scored 22 points off 26 Lumberjack turnovers.
Long Beach State raced out to a 9-0 lead following a Sawyer 3-pointer at the 7:11 mark. NAU then got on the board and proceeded to close the gap to two (9-7) at the media timeout with 4:48 to go in the first quarter. The Beach regrouped and outscored the Lumberjacks, 8-2, over the final four minutes to pull ahead, 17-9.
Northern Arizona (1-3) started the second period on an 8-2 run of its own to make it a one-point game at 19-18 with 5:58 remaining. LBSU called a timeout before using a 14-3 spurt, capped by a pair of free throws from Jackson, to open up its largest lead of the half at 33-21. Kim sparked the rally with nine of Long Beach State's points during that stretch. The Beach stayed out front and took a 35-24 advantage into the locker room.
LBSU ran away in the third frame as Sawyer made a couple of layups to start a 17-6 run that put the 49ers on top, 52-30. Long Beach State maintained a 20-point lead for the remainder of the game and went up by as many as 29 in the 69-48 win.
Rene Coggins led the Lumberjacks with 10 points. NAU shot just 33.3 percent (19-57) from the field, 16.7 percent (2-12) from 3-point range and 44.4 percent (8-18) from the free throw line.
Long Beach State returns to action tomorrow when it wraps up the Aggie Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic against Northwestern State at 1 p.m. (MT)/12 p.m. (PT).
NOTES: Long Beach State improves to 4-1 for the second year in a row ... It is the best five-game start in consecutive seasons since 1990-91 and 1991-92 ... Five 49ers reached double figures in scoring for the second time this year ... Cecily Wilson, who had 13 points at LSU, made her first start of the 2015-16 campaign and finished with 11 points, marking her first career back-to-back double-figure scoring games ... Sophomore transfer Gigi Hascheff scored her first points in a Beach uniform with a pair of free throws at the 2:37 mark of the third quarter ... Hascheff had missed the first four games with an ankle injury ... This was the second time in three outings the Beach held its opponent to under 50 points ... LBSU extended its streak of forcing at least 20 turnovers to five-straight games ... Long Beach State is now 3-1 in its all-time series with NAU which dates back to 1985.
