Cal Poly wins game, Sanchez gets ring

Tears were shed after Saturday’s game against Cal Poly, but it wasn’t because the 49ers lost in overtime.

Long Beach State fell to the Mustangs, 107-102, in its first 100-point game in eight years, but the mood quickly turned positive as guard Alex Sanchez accepted a marriage proposal at half court after the game.

The game itself certainly lived up to its high expectations given that the reigning Big West Champs were in town with the dynamic Cal Poly lineup that yields two of the top three scorers in the Big West: Molly Schlemer (18.6) and Ariana Elegado (17.5).

But while much was anticipated from the 6-foot-5 center Schlemer, who is also the top rebounder in the conference and was two inches taller than anyone else on the court, it was the 5-foot-6 guard Elegado that stole the show.

After a back-and-forth battle in which The Beach netted five of their first seven threes and the Mustangs scored their first 10 points on the post, the first half saw five ties and six lead changes. The ‘Niners exchanged their threes for Cal Poly points in the paint and the 49ers fell victim to a dependency from the three-point line in the first half, as Cal Poly led 47-40 at the halftime break.

“We needed to get more paint touches,” head coach Jody Wynn said. “We needed to get to the free throw line more than four times in the first half, and we just didn’t do that.”

The 49ers came out of the locker room and did just that. A Jade Wilson score in the post gave them 14 points in the paint, a low number considering Cal Poly scored 48 points in the paint the game.

After an improved half on both ends where Ella Clark and Wilson defended Schlemer as well as any team would hope to, LBSU struggled at the charity stripe at an inopportune time while Cal Poly had a streak of 19 consecutive makes up until late in the overtime.

“I think in the end, turnovers and missed free throws hurt us,” Wynn said. “Other than that, it was a highly entertaining game, and we just didn’t have an answer for Elegado.”

Following two quick fouls committed by Elegado six minutes into the second half, the ‘Niners  cut a six-point lead to three on a Meneses trey in the corner right in front of her team’s bench seconds after Elegado sat down with her fourth foul.

The Mustangs would soon use their perfect free throw shooting to extend the lead to 11 with 10:22 left in regulation. But the 49ers were able to get into the bonus early, with 10 makes at the charity stripe to help cut the Cal Poly lead to one at 82-81 with 3:14 left.

Following those 10 makes from the line, Sawyer missed both free throws after drawing a foul, and Wilson made just one of her own to tie it up at 82-82. But while Cal Poly went on to make their next nine free throws, the 49ers kept with them thanks to baskets from Raven Benton, Lauren Spargo and Hallie Meneses.

Meneses then nailed a contested three with 0.2 seconds left on the clock to make it 91-91.

Despite keeping the Mustangs to 2-for-6 shooting from the field in overtime, the 11-of-12 makes from the free throw line was too much for LBSU. The 49ers ultimately fell, 107-102.

Elegado finished with 30 points and six assists. While Schlemer was held to 16 points and 10 boards, numbers just shy of her season average.

Spargo led The Beach in scoring with 20 points to go along with five assists and Meneses finished with 19 on 6-of-9 shooting.

But moments after the players and coaches greeted one another at mid-court, the coaching staff made a u-turn when normally they would have kept walking towards their locker room. This change in direction was supposed to involve a post game fundraising activity, but it soon became apparent to Sanchez that that wasn’t the case.

“When he came out on the court, I was like, ‘what is he doing, what is he doing?’” Sanchez said. “Then everyone said it was the shoot-a-thon so I was like, ‘okay whatever’. And then they started playing the video and I realized it was happening.”

It was then that Sanchez’ boyfriend, Chris Helmage, knelt to the ground and popped the question. Although the tears did flow following the loss in overtime, the tears of joy came from coaches, players and fans in both gold and green.

“Alex is our sister, our daughter, our friend,” said Wynn. “It’s a moment that none of us will ever forget. To be a part of something so special to somebody that is so dear to our hearts. It’s amazing.”