49ers take down UC Davis in close Breast Cancer Awareness game

The headbands, T-shirts, pompoms and ties that are normally black and yellow at the Walter Pyramid were a shade of pink on Thursday night as the Long Beach State women’s basketball team hosted UC Davis for its annual Breast Cancer Awareness game.

The ‘Pink Game’ didn’t disappoint, as LBSU won 65-62 in the final seconds.

The game started off much like it did in UC Davis on Jan. 11, with both teams struggling on offense. There were just nine points scored between both teams until the 15:34 mark in the first half. The last time these teams met, the 49ers erased a double-digit deficit but ultimately lost 63-60 on the last basket of the game.

“Playing up at Davis and losing on a last-second three in their place, it stung deep,” head coach Jody Wynn said. “But we expect every game to go down to the wire in this conference.”

The 49ers were able to make up for their poor shooting with a solid first half on the boards in which they had 24 rebounds (10 offensive) compared to the Aggies’ 12 total.

While the 49ers struggled to get into a rhythm on offense that half, Anna Kim took control of the game, scoring a game-high 11 points in a six-minute stretch. The 49ers went into the half holding a 32-28 lead.

“She made two three’s in the first half and played a good floor game tonight,” Wynn said. “You can always count on Anna [Kim] to take a charge and dive on a loose ball; she’s never going to short change us for effort and heart, and she came up big tonight with quite a few of those plays.”

For LBSU, the second half started off much like the first half, except the Aggies managed to find their groove offensively, going on a 9-2 run in the first two minutes and change. However, it remained a two-possession game for much of the second half with a 6-point lead being the biggest advantage UC Davis would have. It lasted until the 6:49 mark, when the 49ers began to make their final run.

The Beach took what was a seven-point lead and made it 56-53 with 4:41 left in the game after a Raven Benton layup preceded an Ella Clark jumper that would be her first of three big shots. The Aggies would hold a two possession lead twice before the ‘Niners would recapture their first lead since the 17:50 mark in the second half.

A layup by junior Lauren Spargo brought the Aggie lead to 61-60, and a steal from Jewelyn Sawyer set up a three from Clark with 58 seconds to go. Spargo stole the ball the following UC Davis possession, and Clark sealed the victory with a jumper.

“Ella [Clark] has been around Alex [Sanchez] since their freshman year, so they have a really close bond,” Wynn said. “This game means more to our program than just a basketball game. It’s a very significant game to Alex Sanchez and our entire team and myself,”

Sanchez, who lost her mom to breast cancer when she was nine, has played an important role in Clark’s transition from England to the states and it’s only fitting that the game-winning baskets came from Clark.

“We just wanted to play with full heart and the fight that we want all these women to continue fighting with as their battling this terrible disease,” Wynn said. “For Ella [Clark] to be the one to step up and be the one, I’m just really proud of the confidence in which Ella [Clark] played with tonight.”