Sports, Women's Basketball, Women's Sports

LBSU makes it five straight with win against CSUN in overtime

It took overtime, but the Long Beach State women’s basketball team picked up its fifth win in a row with a 74-71 victory over Cal State Northridge on Thursday inside the Walter Pyramid.

With 19 seconds left and the 49ers up by two, Matadors’ freshman center Channon Fluker drained a jumper in the paint to tie the game at 63. LBSU (17-5, 6-2) failed to score a game-winner in the ensuing possession, sending it into overtime.

CSUN (5-17, 3-5) once again had a chance to tie the game in overtime, but missed two three-pointers in the closing seconds that would have tied the game at 74.

“We worked our tail off to get back into the game and send it to overtime,” Matador head coach Jason Flowers said. “So [we have to] finish off.”

After scoring 10 fourth-quarter points last Saturday, LBSU’s junior forward Madison Montgomery once again proved to be an x-factor as she drained two clutch jumpers and two free throws in overtime.

“[In] overtime I was excited because I knew that our team kind of had the momentum,” Montgomery said. “Like we were feeling good about how we were defending and we knew if we just stuck to the game plan that we could pull off a win.”

Montgomery finished the game with 12 points, all of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime.

LBSU had strong fourth quarter and overtime performances, but struggled in the early going.

The 49ers started the game giving up five easy points within the first 25 seconds of the game forcing 49er head coach Jody Wynn to call a timeout.

“I didn’t like the way we started our first two possessions,” Wynn said. “I just didn’t think our focus was where it needed to be.”

Despite the slow start, the 49ers fought their way back into the game as sophomore guard Jessica Gertz drained two huge triples in first quarter. Gertz would go on to score 11 points for the game.

The third quarter would prove to be the 49ers’ worst as the team only scored eight points.

“We didn’t play well offensively,” Wynn said. “We weren’t fluid and credit them in their effort defensively.”

Despite the offensive slump, the team still held the lead going into the fourth by one. Wynn credited her defense as the reason for not giving up the lead.

“Our defense was getting stops. We were turning them over in the press, so we were generating possessions,” Wynn said.

The 49ers had offensive problems, but the Matadors did as well.

Down 15 points at one point in the second quarter, the Matadors fought back and finished the second quarter with a 7-0 run, which would carry over into the third and become a 20-2 run.

“I thought we did a better job of executing the gameplan in the second half,” Matador head coach Flowers said. “Obviously, we did a better job on the defensive end as far as how well they shot the basketball.”

The 49ers look for their sixth win in a row against first-place Hawai’i next Thursday at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

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