Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
10-6 (1-0)
Hawai'i
4-9 (0-1)
MONTGOMERY, KIM NOTCH CAREER-HIGHS IN WIN OVER HAWAII
1/5/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Madison Montgomery and Anna Kim each recorded a career-high as the Long Beach State women's basketball team defeated Hawaii, 68-57, to open Big West Conference play on Thursday night at the Walter Pyramid.
With the victory, the Beach (10-6, 1-0 BWC) defeated the Rainbow Wahine (4-9, 0-1 BWC) for the first time since 2014 and snapped a seven-game losing streak to Hawaii. The win was twice as sweet, as the 49ers avenged their season-ending loss from the Big West Conference Tournament a year ago.
Montgomery led all scorers with a career-high 23 points, marking her fourth 20-plus performance of her career. Raven Benton came up just shy of her 13th 20-point effort as she poured in a season-high 19 points. Pacing the offense was Kim who dished out a career-best eight assists to go along with five points, two rebounds and one steal.
"Having seniors who have been there and done that before is huge," Long Beach State head coach Jody Wynn said. "It allows us to reflect on past experiences.
"Madi (Montgomery) really responded at halftime. She did a great job of getting the ball in the paint and owning the paint.
"Anna did a fabulous job of finding people tonight," Wynn continued. "I challenged Anna this week to move the ball and make sure it continues to move. I think we have some offensive weapons with Jeweyln (Sawyer), Raven and Gigi (Hashcheff). They can really score the ball so it has to move and you can't take `my turn' shots. I'm just really happy with the fact that we did move the ball and we had 17 assists to nine turnovers."
Despite getting off to a slow start, both teams picked up the pace in the second half. The first quarter saw 10 minutes of defense on both sides as Long Beach State shot just 15.4 percent (2-for-13) and Hawaii connected on only 2-of-18 field goals for a shooting percentage of 11.1 percent. The two teams headed into the second frame barely reaching double digits combined as Hawaii led LBSU, 6-5.
"The first quarter was pretty ugly on both ends," Wynn stated. "I guess if you like defense, it was a pretty good quarter. But the lid was on the rim. Shots that we normally knock down from the perimeter, we weren't able to do so in the first half."
By halftime, the Beach had taken a 20-17 lead over the Rainbow Wahine after connecting on 6-of-17 field goals. However, the 49ers shot just 18.2 percent from long distance as they connected on 2-of-11 threes. Despite the lack of offense, Long Beach State's defense kept the game tight as the 49ers allowed the Rainbow Wahine just 11 points in the frame and a mere 17 points in the first half.
"I was a little upset that we kept living by the three instead of getting the ball inside, but that was an adjustment we made at halftime," Wynn explained.
The adjustment paid off as the Beach came out and equaled its first-half point total in the third quarter alone as they shot 43.8 percent (7-for-16) from the field and connected on all five of their free throws. Just as Long Beach State's offense started heating up, so did Hawaii's. The Rainbow Wahine stayed within striking distance as they knocked down 7-of-10 field goals to shoot 70 percent in the frame.
"Hawaii is a different team because gone are a couple big studs for them, but Sarah Toeaina - what a player," Wynn said. "Her jump shot is like a guy; she gets so high off the ground. She did a really nice job for them the entire game."
Toeaina scored 10 of her 20 points in the third quarter alone and accounted for 59 percent of the Rainbow Wahine's third quarter points. In the game, she led Hawaii in points, rebounds (7) and assists (3).
With Hawaii hot on its heels, Long Beach State opened up its largest lead of the game in the fourth quarter as the 49ers led by as many as 13 (68-55) before going on to take the game by a score of 68-57.
The Beach capitalized on the Rainbow Wahine's 17 turnovers as they scored 18 points off of turnovers and owned Hawaii on assists-to-turnovers with 17 assists, while turning the ball over just nine times. The defensively strong 49ers also led in steals with seven to Hawaii's three.
Long Beach State will be back in action on Thursday, Jan. 12 when it travels to UC Davis to take on the Aggies. The contest is set for 7 p.m.
