Sports, Women's Basketball, Women's Sports

Emma Merriweather’s career-high performance propels LBSU women’s basketball over the Lopes’

Long Beach State’s women’s basketball guard Cecily Wilson bounced the ball three times, took a deep breath and buried the game-winning free throw against Grand Canyon to clinch the 49ers’ second win of the season.

Freshmen center Emma Merriweather had a career-high 23 points and 12 rebounds, while  Wilson contributed with 14 points and a career-best 13 boards.

LBSU (2-7) came out on top 65-63 against Grand Canyon (2-7) after an explosive second half.

In the third quarter the 49ers outscored the Lopes’ 19-16 and shot 57.1 percent from the field.

“We had a bad third quarter and we couldn’t get stops at the end of the game,” Lopes’ senior guard Jordan Jackson said on ESPN. “We had to win the 50-50 balls, but we didn’t tonight.”

Merriweather was a big contributor in the third quarter, scoring eight of her 23 points to keep the 49ers in the contest. The road trip has been tough for Merriweather, who found herself on the bench due to foul trouble and poor shooting. She was able to stay active on the floor just in time for the 49ers to come home with a victory.  

Long Beach has struggled all season to move the ball around this season, but found success with its passing against Grand Canyon and posted a season-high 18 assists as a team. Freshman guard Ma’Qhi Berry played a more traditional point guard role dishing out a career-high seven assists while shooting a perfect 3-of-3 from the field adding eight points.

In a close game that saw five ties and 11 lead changes, the 49ers held on to the victory thanks to a clutch free throw by Wilson.

As a whole, the team only shot a lackluster 43.3 percent from the field, but was able to garner 18 points through turnovers and second chance points. The 49ers were scrappy on the glass and played with grit down the stretch to top the ‘Lopes

The 49ers did a good job in containing senior guard Brie Mobley to 8-of-20 shooting for 17 points, and ultimately limiting Grand Canyon to 36.9 percent shooting from the field.

Long Beach finished its six-game road trip with two wins, and will come back to the Walter Pyramid to protect its home court on Dec. 17 at 2 p.m. against Tennessee.

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