After being leapfrogged by Hawaii to move from third to fourth in the Big West standings on Thursday, the Long Beach State women’s basketball team did something they hadn’t done all season: lose two games in three nights.
The 49ers, who are now tied for fifth in the Big West, had a poor start on both ends against Hawai’i (15-11, 9-5 Big West) as the 49ers shot just 38.5 percent from the field compared to the Rainbow Wahine, who connected on 51.4 percent of their shots in the first half. However, the 49ers seemed to shake the jet lag in the second half and cut a 20-point deficit to six following a three from junior Ella Clark.
But the 49ers were unable to cut into the Rainbow Wahine lead, as Hawai’i took advantage of their shots at the charity stripe, making 18-of-22 free throws on the night.
Cal State Fullerton (11-15, 7-6 Big West) came into the Saturday afternoon match up against the 49ers (15-12, 7-6 Big West) looking to match their Big West regular season record and break the tie that they held with UC Irvine and UC Davis coming into the game. That is exactly what the Titans did following a late run that ended in a 71-55 final.
“Give credit to Fullerton, they wanted it” head coach Jody Wynn said. “I’m very disappointed in our defense. But on the bright side, the season is not over.”
Soon after a loud crash of thunder was heard from inside the Walter Pyramid, water was found by a referee atop half court, who stopped play at the 11:49 mark left in the first half when the ‘Niners held a 13-7 lead. But after the 20-minute delay, both teams returned to the court and the 49ers added to their lead.
Following a three-pointer from junior co-captain Alex Sanchez, who returned to the court on Thursday after missing eight games of Big West action, gave the 49ers their first double digit lead of the game. The ‘Niners fought off a run by the Titans late that half, who cut the LBSU lead to three before the half ended at 32-25 in favor of the 49ers.
Sanchez, who started the game on the bench given her return from injury, went into the locker room with a team-high eight points on 3-of-5 shooting. Sanchez was only outdone that half by Titans freshman Kathleen Iwuoha, who had 10 against the ‘Niners this go around after fouling out the previous meeting.
Two minutes into the second half, the ‘Niners were able to sink back-to-back threes 35 seconds apart. Junior
Lauren Spargo netting the first one in the corner after fellow junior Hallie Meneses sunk her second of the game at the top of the arc.
However, the Titans made multiple runs late that cut the 49er lead to a one-possession game on multiple occasions. They put things away following a technical foul for having six players on the court. The free throw by Titans guard Alex Thomas made it a 65-55.
“It was a foul fest out there tonight,” Wynn said. “I guess we fouled them 24 times to our 11. I’m really upset about the discrepancy, but obviously they were the aggressors tonight.”
The 49ers will finish their final week of regular season action against second-ranked Cal State Northridge on Thursday, followed by their last game of the season at UC Riverside on Saturday.