After starting official practice last week, the Long Beach State women’s basketball team is ready to build on its playoff appearance from last year with four championship-starved seniors leading the way.
“We’re really excited. We’re looking forward to building on how we finished last year,” coach Jody Wynn said about gearing up to start nonconference play next month.
LBSU had a strong finish last year as the team reached the Women’s National Invitation Tournament first round, where it lost to Oregon.
“We were 24-9 [last season] and we graduated one player off of last year’s roster,” Wynn said. “So we’re looking forward to seeing what this [year’s] team is capable of and we [have] four seniors that are going to lead the way.”
The four seniors on the roster are guard Raven Benton, forward Madison Montgomery, point guard Anna Kim and forward Jewelyn Sawyer.
All of the seniors are likely to start this year, with the addition of junior guard Cece Wilson, who started a total of 23 games last season. Wynn has not yet released the starting lineup.
She added that the expectation for this season is to win it all while playing fundamentally sound basketball.
“We want to even win little battles, not necessarily just what the scoreboard says, but challenges that we make ourselves,” Wynn said. “Whether they’re statistical challenges, whether they’re effort challenges, whether they’re communication challenges; we want to try to win the day every day.”
She also added that Benton is eager to win the Big West Tournament.
“Raven’s hungry to be the best she can be,” Wynn said. “Where ever that falls is where that falls, but at the same time she wants to win the championship. So, she’s all about whatever it takes to win a championship.”
Benton isn’t the only player keen on winning the championship, as Sawyer is also eyeing the championship.
“I want to win [the championship] for my teammates, myself and the coaching staff because they deserve it,” Sawyer said.
The 49ers added two freshmen over the summer – 5-foot-5-inch point guard Tyla Turner from Cajon High School in San Bernardino, California and 6-foot-1-inch forward Alzena Henry from Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon.
Both freshmen are expected to make an immediate impact for the 49ers.
During her senior high school season, Turner helped lead her high school team to its first ever CIF State Championship. She averaged 13.5 ppg, 7.2 assists and 4.9 steals.
Henry, on the other hand, led her high school team to back-to-back Metro League titles and a Class 6A Tournament appearance, where they finished in the semifinal round. She averaged 7 ppg, 7.3 rebounds and one block.
According to Wynn, Turner is a fast point guard who isn’t afraid to take contact or shoot the three-ball, while Henry brings an inside presence.
LBSU also added 6-foot-2-inch forward Darshana Ta’afua, a transfer player from Long Beach City College.
Ta’afua was named the South Coast Conference South Division Player in 2015 as a sophomore and was a two-time All-State and First-Team All-South Conference selection at LBCC. She averaged 14 ppg, 9.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks during her time with the Vikings.
“She’s somebody that we’ve been recruiting for the last few years and we feel like her skill set is really high,” Wynn said. “She has the ability to shoot the ball, as well as handle herself in the paint and we’re looking forward to seeing what she could bring to our program.”
LBSU opens its season on the road against Nevada on Nov. 11 at Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada at 6 p.m.