The 49ers’ march amid this month of madness came to a close on Tuesday night to prevent a trip to the Honda Center.
Less than 24 hours after the Long Beach State women’s basketball team sent Cal State Fullerton back home with a 64-60 thriller at the Walter Pyramid, the sixth-seeded ‘Niners lost to third-seeded Hawaii, ending the 49ers’ run at a Big West Title in a 52-49 final.
“Naturally this hurts,” head coach Jody Wynn said. “It hurts for all 12 of our kids and all nine that suited up and played. But I think we fought. Our Achilles heel all year was rebounding, and we did that.”
Despite starting off 0-11 from three, the 49ers were able to keep the game close with nine offensive rebounds in the first half, six more than Hawaii in that span. Junior Lauren Spargo, who had 19 points on 4-for-7 shooting from long distance last night, made the first three for LBSU halfway through the first half.
The Rainbow Wahine have been without senior big woman Kamilah Jackson the last five games because of an ankle injury that sidelined her to closeout her senior season.
“We prepared to beat Hawaii with or without Jackson,” Wynn said. “She’s a big part of their program and is one of the greatest players to have played there. But even as an opponent, it’s sad to see a great player not suit up.”
The last time these two teams met at the Pyramid, senior Jade Wilson had a career day down low with Jackson struggling to stay out of foul trouble in a 74-72 win. But despite missing Jackson for much of the game, Hawaii kept it close, much like how the game went without Jackson this go around.
The 49ers’ lone senior registered 24 points and 10 boards, her second double double of the 2013-2014 season. This time, it was Ella Clark who took advantage of Jackson’s absence on the boards with a career-best 14 rebounds.
With 5:17 left in the first half, the Rainbow Wahine went on a 9-0 run to close out the half that gave them a 27-20 lead at the intermission.
The 49ers, who came into the game wearing their black away jerseys, started out the half with an aggressiveness on the offensive end that put Hawaii in foul trouble with three team fouls in the first 1:42.
However, the ‘Niners were unable to take advantage, as they left nine points at the charity stripe by making 15 of 24 free throws.
Freshman Raven Benton, who struggled in the first half with 0-for-6 shooting from three, made it a point to get to the line early on in the second half and sank four free throws before The Beach tickled the twine for the second and third time on consecutive possessions to cap a 10-0 run.
“We knew they would come back punching,” Hawaii head coach Laura Beeman said. “When they went on a run we knew it was coming. Defensively we did a phenomenal job tonight.”
Sanchez sunk a trey to make it 30-30 about six minutes into the second half, and junior Hallie Meneses followed that up with a three of her own right in front of her team’s bench. Moments later, Spargo made it three in a row to give The Beach a 37-36 lead.
Both teams went on to trade baskets for the rest of the game until the final minute when the 49ers were presented with 27.9 seconds and trailed 50-49.
The 49ers were unable to get a shot off that possession following the steal from Hawaii’s Morgan Mason, which was followed up by an Clark foul. Mason sunk both free throws and after a missed desperation three by Meneses, the 49ers went into the locker room for the final time this year with a 52-49 loss.
Junior Ashleigh Karaitiana led the Rainbow Wahine with 18 points on 4-of-5 shooting from three, the same number of makes as the 49ers. She also added a team-high eight boards.
With the win, the Rainbow Wahine advance to the Honda Center and are set to face No. 2 Cal Poly tomorrow night.