The Long Beach State women’s basketball team began its Big West Conference play by defeating Hawai’i 68-57 Thursday at the Walter Pyramid.
The win ended a seven-game losing streak that LBSUn (10-6, 1-0) had against Hawai’i(4-9, 0-1).
The game began with a low scoring first quarter, which had Hawai’i leading LBSU 6-5.
LBSU head coach Jody Wynn felt that the team was shooting too many long shots in the first half.
“We settled for a lot of threes,” Wynn said. “[Hawai’i] played a zone and we settled for a lot of outside shots and they just weren’t falling. In time, we knew that we had to play inside out and we ended up fixing that in the second half.”
In the first half, LBSU made three three pointers and only had six points in the paint.
The second half was a completely different story as the 49ers dominated the paint scoring 24 points and going four of eight from behind the arc.
Seniors Madison Montgomery and Raven Benton lead the way for the 49ers as they scored a combined total of 42 points, 19 of which came in the fourth quarter.
Hawai’i head coach Laura Beeman said that Montgomery is tough to guard.
“Montgomery is a terrible match up for us,” Beeman said. “Our post are where we are at our youngest. We don’t have the savviness or the physicality, the intensity, the skill that she has. We knew where they were going to go. They were going to go inside no doubt about it. They did and she did what a veteran player supposed to do.”
Montgomery finished with a team-high 23 points, 12 of which came in the paint.
“The coaches talked to me all year about dominating the paint,” Montgomery said. “So, we want to get paint touches because that’s when get our offense going. I get paint touches and other people do and that’s when our threes start happening.”
Benton contributed to by making three out of the seven shots from the three-point line.
“For my threes, I have to remember to shoot the same shot every time,” Benton said. “Sometimes I shoot it a little long. So, when I got the ball, I would just make sure that I was open and I got to shoot the shot.”
The Rainbow Wahine’s top scorer was Sarah Toeaina with 20 points, 13 of them came in the second half.
Wynn said that Toeaina has a beautiful jump shot.
“She has the jump shot of a guy,” Wynn said. “She can elevate so high. As attached as we can be, she can elevate and jump over us and she has a very pretty stroke.”
Wynn feels confident moving forward in conference, but says that every game is the same.
“It’s always nice to start off conference with a W,” Wynn said. “But every game is the same. Every win is one win and every loss is just one loss. And it doesn’t matter who we play, we have to focus on not beating ourselves.”
After back to back home games, the 49ers head back on the road as they take on UC Davis on Jan. 12 at The Pavilion.
The Aggies currently hold the best overall record in the Big West Conference with 10-4. The 49ers are second with 10-6.