At a time where it’s win or go home in the middle of March, the Long Beach State women’s basketball team will begin to write the final chapter of its season against the Fullerton team that it lost to at the same point last season.
The sixth-seeded 49ers (16-14, 8-8 Big West) will remember last years 54-48 loss to the Titans in the first round of the Big West Tournament but won’t put much stock into it.
“Fullerton ended our conference season last year … and two years ago we beat Northridge in the first round of the conference tournament,” Wynn said. “We’ll just come prepared and anything can happen.”
Fortunately for the ‘Niners, who lost three straight for the first time this season in the last two weeks to fall outside the top four, LBSU will have nine players to work with instead of the seven or eight they were forced to play with during the season. The Beach was without juniors Devin Hudson, Chantel Dooley and Bianka Balthazar all year and also road the waves of injuries throughout the season that even included a player having to go to the ER for an IV.
On a team that has played games with four freshman on the court at once, two freshman have filled that void with an aggressiveness on both ends that Wynn and her staff love to see.
Anna Kim, who grew up in Fullerton, has played a key role for the 49ers this year, taking over the starting point guard role midway through the season. She has averaged 7.9 points a game and shot a Big West-leading 43 percent from beyond the arc.
Raven Benton is the freshman who has gone on to lead the team in scoring at 12.3 points a game while also ranking among the conference’s best in shooting efficiency at 22.9 points per 40 minutes.
And last Thursday, it was Benton, the guard from Federal Way, Wash., who the Northridge fans heckled early and often at the Walter Pyramid last week in hopes of distracting the young guard.
“Kim and Benton are two of our toughest kids and they’ve certainly shouldered a heavy load,” Wynn said. “The two of them have provided a toughness to our team that we really need.”
On Monday, their performance this season was recognized as they each earned a spot on the Big West All-Freshman Team. Lauren Spargo and fellow junior Ella Clark, earned All-Big West honorable mention recognition as well.
But while it’s nice to be recognized, the individual honors weren’t what the team has been practicing for since last fall.
With the 49ers scheduled to face CSUF (12-17, 8-8 Big West) in the friendly confines of the Walter Pyramid, CSUF’s rookie head coach Daron Park isn’t exactly happy to be returning to the ‘Mid.
“It’s a huge advantage [for LBSU].” Park said. “It doesn’t do me any good to complain about it but this is the task at hand. We made our bed and now we have to play a team in their place.”
The last time these teams played, the Titans used a run late to beat the 49ers at the Walter Pyramid just two weeks ago.
“On our end we have to do a better job of scoring the ball,” Wynn said. “In that second half we didn’t shoot the ball particularly well. And ending the game on a 17-4 run was certainly not something we were happy about.”
Guards Alex Thomas and Chante Miles are among the top backcourt tandems in the league, with both players averaging more than 13 points per game on the season. The Titans also have Kathleen Iwuoha, who averages just over 10 points per game to go along with 7. 3 rebounds a contest.
“All three of them certainly can and they play with experience,” Wynn said. “They’re very aggressive at getting to the rim. They got themselves to the free throw line 32 times [last time we played]. We made more field goals than them but the bottom line was they took advantage of their opportunities.”
The 49ers are presented with an opportunity of their own in this month of madness that they hope to take advantage of starting Tuesday.