After a loss to UC Santa Barbara Jan. 19, the Long Beach State women’s basketball team bounced back, defeating UC Davis 64-62 Saturday at the Walter Pyramid.
The 49ers (13-7, 4-1) started the game off shaky, allowing the Aggies (13-6, 4-2) to get an early eight-point lead in the first two minutes of the game.
“We took some quick [shots],” 49ers head coach Jody Wynn said. “Quick threes and I’m okay with shooting the ball, but if you’re not in a heat check maybe you need to work it around and play the ball inside out. We were able to get the ball inside to Jewelyn [Sawyer], Raven [Benton], Alzena [Henry] and Maddy [Montgomery] and they capitalized in the fourth quarter in the paint.”
The 49ers shot the ball 35 percent from the field in the first quarter and went 1 of 4 from behind the three-point line.
The Aggies, on the other hand, shot 50 percent from the field and went 4 of 9 from long distance, which gave them a 22-17 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Despite a rough first quarter, the 49ers outscored the Aggies 19-15 in the second quarter and were down 36-35 at halftime.
The third quarter saw some back-and-forth action as the lead changed six times and was tied once. The Aggies took a 53-51 heading into the final quarter.
UC Davis took a nine-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
Just when it looked like UC Davis was ready to seal the deal, LBSU’s senior forward Sawyer drained a much-needed three at the 5:19 mark.
The three-pointer ended the shooting slump and gave the 49ers confidence to make a comeback in the last five minutes of the game.
“[LBSU] started hurting us on the boards,” Aggies head coach Jennifer Gross said. “I think that was a big part of [the comeback]. They were getting some second [chance] opportunities and they were getting some chances at the free throw line. I thought we got a little passive toward the end of the game and that never works in our favor. They knocked down some big shots. I feel that it was definitely a game about runs and we just fell a little short.”
The game came down to final 2.2 seconds, when senior point guard Anna Kim drained two free throws to give the 49ers a 64-62 lead.
Kim said that she wasn’t nervous when shooting the game-leading free throws.
“I was ready,” Kim said. “It helps with my teammates and my coaching staff pumping me up. They reminded me:‘You’ve done this in practice, putting pressure on yourself every day’ and I was just really ready for the moment. I told myself ‘Hey, you got this.’”
The Aggies called a timeout after the free throws and had one last chance to win the game or tie to send it to overtime, but they never got a shot up because the inbound pass was deflected and stolen by junior guard Cece Wilson.
Wynn credits LBSU’s defense in the fourth for the victory.
“I think our press was outstanding in the fourth quarter,” Wynn said. “The first three quarters I think we only generated nine turnovers out of three quarters. In the fourth quarter alone, we had six. We were able to score off of the turnovers we created in the fourth quarter.”
The 49ers forced 15 turnovers in the game and scored 25 points off those turnovers, while the Aggies forced 10 turnovers and scored four points.
Kim and Sawyer finished with the game high of 12 points each for the 49ers. Sawyer also posted 10 rebounds to give her a double-double for the game.
The Aggies top scorer was sophomore forward Morgan Bertsch with 17 points. She also posted four rebounds, one assist and three blocks.
The 49ers head back on the road to take on Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 26 at the Titan Gym. The Titans’ current record is 4-14 and is 1-4 in Big West Conference play. Tip off begins at 7 p.m.
