Sports, Women's Basketball, Women's Sports

LBSU defeats Pac-12’s Colorado, moves to 7-1

It was a fight to the finish, but the Long Beach State women’s basketball team managed to hang on and defeat Colorado 59-42 on Sunday inside the Walter Pyramid.

The 49ers (7-1) are off to another fast start to the season. It is the second straight year that LBSU has started off the season with only one loss in the first eight games, something that hadn’t been done since the 1990-91 season.

From early on, the 49ers’ stingy defense took the Buffaloes out of their game and forced Colorado (3-4) to turn the ball over 22 times.

“We knew their defense was like that, we played them last year and remember that,” Colorado head coach Linda Lappe said. “They never let you get comfortable, they’re always flying around and trying to get charges. They take you out of your rhythm offensively and that is what they did to us.”

Last season, the 49ers knocked off the Buffaloes, 62-56, on the road in Boulder, Colorado.

This time was no different; however, the 49ers needed to scrap for the win. Given the size of LBSU’s roster, the 49ers understood that they needed to play smarter and tougher.

“We’re small and everyone knows we’re small,” LBSU head coach Jody Wynn said. “We’re not going to get any bigger, [but] we can play bigger, play smarter, play tougher, and today was a full 40 minutes of being tougher.”

Despite their lack of size, the 49ers outscored the Buffaloes 34 to 12 in points in the paint.

“We made a concentrated effort of getting the ball in the paint,” Wynn said. “Our guards did a good job of penetrating in the lane and they themselves scored in the paint as well.”

One of those guards was junior Jewelyn Sawyer, who scored a game-high 15 points. Sawyer and fellow classmate Raven Benton were the only 49ers that finished in double-digits.

On defense, the 49ers limited Colorado to 21 points in the first two quarters. Wynn credited the experience and maturity of LBSU’s juniors to helping the 49ers stay focused and execute on every play.

“Our juniors are kids that have gotten reps and played since their freshman year,” Wynn said. “This is their third year, and they understand the expectation of every possession. They’ve been leaders on the court and helped the sophomores and freshmen just as much as the coaches.”

In the third quarter, both teams struggled to get any rhythm going offensively; each team only mustered up nine points. Colorado could not get its shots to fall. The Buffaloes converted only eight of 38 attempts from the field in the second half.

“When you work so hard to get shots, you want to be able to knock them down,” Lappe said. “Whether they were inside or outside, we didn’t get enough shots because we were turning the ball over way too much. Credit Long Beach, they outhustled us and they wanted this game and they took it.”

Even though the 49ers’ offense got off to a rough start, turning the ball over three times in the first three minutes of the game, they rebounded by playing tight defense and hitting key shots.

One of those shots came with 8:43 left in the game. After Colorado’s forward Lauren Higgins knocked down a three-pointer that cut the 49ers’ lead down to four points, Benton made a tough shot off the glass that gave LBSU a 41-35 lead. From there on, LBSU outscored Colorado 18-7 to run away with the win.

Even though LBSU is off to a hot start, Wynn said she understands the long road ahead.

“We just talk about going into every game and only playing that game,” Wynn said. “We’re not talking about how small we are or what conference teams are in. We’re worrying only about what we need to do to be successful offensively and defensively. There is a better sense of poise among the juniors than they were as sophomores.”

The 49ers will return to action on Tuesday when they host San Francisco inside the Walter Pyramid at 7 p.m.

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