Long Beach State University Athletics
LBSU Women's Basketball Begins Big West Tournament on Wednesday
3/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
No. 3 Long Beach State (23-7, 12-4 Big West)
vs. No. 6 Cal Poly (15-15, 7-9 Big West)
Date: Wednesday, March 9
Time: 6 p.m. (PST)
Location: Bren Events Center (5,000) - Irvine, Calif.
Watch | Listen | Live Stats
Game Notes: Long Beach State 
The third-seeded Long Beach State women's basketball team will open the Big West Tournament against No. 6 seed Cal Poly in the quarterfinal round at the Bren Events Center on Wednesday, March 9. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
QUICK HITS
• The 49ers are 35-24 overall in Big West Tournament games and are 16-18 against current league members.
• LBSU tied for second in the Big West standings, its best finish in 10 years.
• Long Beach State's 12 conference wins were also the most since it went 13-5 in 2004-05.
• The Beach earned a season sweep over six of its eight Big West opponents.
• LBSU's 23 victories topped last year's total of 22. They have improved their win total in five-straight seasons.
• Long Beach State ranks first in the Big West and ninth in the country with 21.5 turnovers forced per game.
• The 49ers have forced 20 or more turnovers in 11 of their last 13 outings.
• The Beach has reached 20 wins for the second-straight season and is 45-17 since 2014-15.
• Long Beach won its last five regular-season games, matching its season-long win streak from Jan. 16-Feb. 4.
BEACH PLACES THREE ON ALL-BIG WEST TEAM
Long Beach State had three players named to the 2015-16 All-Big West Women's Basketball Team the conference office announced on Monday. Junior Raven Benton was a first-team selection, while classmates Anna Kim and Jewelyn Sawyer garnered honorable mention recognition. Sawyer was also tabbed the Big West Defensive Player of the Year, marking the third time in program history, and first since 2003, a 49er has won the award.
IN THE TOURNAMENT
The Beach owns a 35-24 overall record in Big West Tournament games. The 49ers have qualified for the conference tournament in each of head coach Jody Wynn's seven years at the helm and their best finish during that stretch was in 2012 when they advanced to the championship game. In 28 Big West Tournament appearances, Long Beach State has moved on to the semifinals 13 times, the finals 11 times and claimed four championships, with its last title coming in 1991.
LBSU has fared well against Cal Poly in the conference tournament as it is 6-0 against the Mustangs. The last time the two teams met in the postseason was in the 2012 semifinals when the seventh-seeded 49ers picked up a 51-48 upset win over No. 1 seed Cal Poly.
LAST TIME OUT
Behind 20-point performances from juniors Raven Benton and Madison Montgomery, Long Beach State defeated CSUN, 79-69, in the regular-season finale last Saturday at the Matadome. Benton went 15-for-20 from the foul line and finished with a team-high 27 points. Her 15 made free throws are tied for third and her 20 attempts are tied for second in LBSU single-game history. Montgomery also had a career-high 22 points, to go along with four rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Sophomores Cecily Wilson and Jessica Gertz chipped in eight points each, while junior Anna Kim had five points and five steals. Junior Gigi Hascheff contributed five points and four steals as the Beach tied its season-high with 16 takeaways. The 49ers shot 46.2 percent on the afternoon and scored 22 points off 23 CSUN turnovers. Long Beach committed only 10 turnovers of its own.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Sixth-seeded Cal Poly (15-15, 7-9 Big West) advanced to the quarterfinals with a 72-51 win over No. 7 seed CSUN on Tuesday. Dynn Leaupepe carried the Mustangs with a game-high 30 points, while her twin sister Lynn Leaupepe chipped in 14 points. On the season, Hannah Gilbert is tops on the team with 12.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, while Beth Balbierz has made 64 threes and is averaging 12.2 points per outing.
SERIES RECORD
Long Beach State leads in its all-time series with Cal Poly, 43-19. The Beach topped the Mustangs, 65-53, at home, and 61-56 on the road. Anna Kim and Madison Montgomery led the 49ers with 10.5 and 10.0 points per game, respectively. Jewelyn Sawyer also averaged 7.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.0 steals in the series.
1,000 AND COUNTING
Junior Raven Benton surpassed 1,000 career points in a 61-56 win at Cal Poly and now ranks 22nd in school history at 1,052. She was the 24th player in program history, and the fourth in head coach Jody Wynn's tenure, to reach the milestone. Benton needed only 83 games to accomplish the feat, making her the 12th-fastest 49er to hit 1,000.
SCORING MACHINE
Benton, who is averaging a team-best 12.9 points per outing, has reached double digits in scoring 20 times this season and 54 times in her career. The first-team All-Big West selection netted a career-high 31 in a non-conference win over UNLV (Dec. 20), marking LBSU's first 30-point performance in five years. Benton also finished with 27 at CSUN, 23 vs. Hawai'i and 22 against Cal State Fullerton as she now has 10 career games with 20 or more points.
JEWELYN SHINES
Junior Jewelyn Sawyer has emerged as one of Long Beach State's top players in 2015-16. Sawyer has reached double figures in scoring 13 times, led the Beach in rebounding on 16 occasions, and accounted for three of LBSU's five double-doubles. On the season, Sawyer has registered 9.1 points and a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game, marking a significant improvement from last year when she averaged 2.4 points and 3.6 boards. Sawyer started her breakout campaign by netting a career-high 20 points against San Diego State. She was the first 49er to hit 20 in a season opener since Karina Figueroa (23) and Lauren Sims (20) both accomplished the feat in 2009. The Paramount, Calif., native later matched her career best with 20 points at USC, while also finishing with 16 at Seattle and UC Davis. In addition, Sawyer leads the team with 44 steals. The 2016 Big West Defensive Player of the Year had a steal in all but one of the 14 conference games in which she played, and totaled a career-high five takeaways in both meetings with Cal Poly.
SWAT TEAM
Junior Madison Montgomery (Englewood, Colo.) is tied for fifth in the Big West with 1.1 blocks per contest. She had a streak of eight games with at least one block from Dec. 13-Jan. 9, and leads the team with 31 total blocked shots. Montgomery, who has recorded multiple blocks 10 times this year, finished with a season-high three at Pacific, at Denver and vs. Hawai'i. The 6-foot-1 forward is also averaging 8.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per outing. This season, Montgomery has posted career highs of 22 points at CSUN, 13 rebounds at Pacific and five assists at Seattle U. She added 11 points against the Tigers for her third career double-double.
BACK ON TRACK
Junior Anna Kim started the season making 66.7 percent (6-of-9) of her 3-point attempts, including a perfect 4-for-4 performance from long distance at Houston on Nov. 19. In the following game at LSU, Kim suffered an elbow injury that affected her shot as she went 2-of-19 from behind the arc over the next nine outings. The Fullerton, Calif., native got back on track with a three at Denver (Dec. 28), marking her first triple since Nov. 27. She continued to roll at Seattle U with two threes and 15 points, and went on to make four of her five 3-point attempts for a season-best 18 points at UC Davis. Kim has now made 21 treys over an 18-game stretch, and is eighth in school history with a career 3-point field goal percentage of 35.8. The All-Big West honorable mention selection is also second on the team with 68 assists (2.3/game).
TURNOVER TREND
Long Beach State forced a Big West-leading 21.4 turnovers per game last year, and has continued that trend in 2015-16 with a conference-best 645 turnovers forced (21.5/game). That mark also ranks ninth in the nation. The 49ers have pressured teams into 20 or more turnovers 20 times this season, including a season-high 30 vs. Portland State. Since head coach Jody Wynn's first year at the helm of the program in 2009-10, the Beach has forced 19.2 turnovers per game.
DEFENSIVE MINDED
The Beach has allowed more than 60 points only 11 times this season, and gave up more than 70 only three times - Portland State, UC Riverside and CSUN (OT). Six of Long Beach State's adversaries have also failed to reach the 50-point mark, including Pac-12 member Colorado (42) and previously unbeaten UTEP (40). Both of those teams have hit 90 at least once this year and are averaging 61.9 and 71.9 points per game, respectively. One of UTEP's three losses on the season came at the Beach on Dec. 18. The 49ers have kept their opponents to single-digit scoring in a quarter 12 times, not including overtime.
WE CAN SCORE TOO
Long Beach State has scored 70 or more points eight times this year with a season-high 89 against Portland State on Nov. 15. The Beach has put together 27 quarters with at least 20 points, and has six games with multiple 20-point periods.
WYNN WINS
Seventh-year head coach Jody Wynn (113-106) became the fourth coach in program history to join the century club with her 100th career victory coming at Denver on Dec. 28. The past three-plus seasons have been especially productive for Wynn and the 49ers as they have won 78 games and made two WNIT appearances.
UP NEXT
The Big West Tournament semifinals and finals will move to the Honda Center in Anaheim, March 11-12. If the 49ers advance, they will play second-seeded Hawai'i Friday at 2:30 p.m.
