Let the boys enjoy their trip to the Big Dance this year, because next year when they’re rebuilding, it’s the girls who will need dates to the Dance.
The No. 6 seed Long Beach State women’s basketball team came out of the woodwork and surprised the Big West Conference by knocking out No. 7 UC Irvine and No. 3 Cal Poly last week in Anaheim. Regular season conference champs UC Riverside remained victorious, but the 49ers sure didn’t make it easy for the Highlanders to get to the finals. But it was the two upsets that had everyone wondering what had gotten into this formerly losing team.
After only going 7-22 overall, 4-10 in the conference, and having only one player, Karina Figueroa, given all-conference accolades, LBSU came into the Big West Conference Tournament last week at the Anaheim Convention Center pegged as a forgettable team that would likely be taken out early. But the 49ers’ play proved to be unforgettable, as several players stepped up to the plate.
In their first collegiate tournaments, freshmen Courtney Jacob and Ally Wade scored big for LBSU, and Nondi Johnson put in a good defensive performance. Figueroa and fellow sophomore Kaiti O’Brien dominated for the 49ers, as they had all season.
They might not have been able to take down defending conference champs UCR, but the 49ers turned in some of itsbest performances all season, setting the stage for a much better year and ending a year they may not want to remember.
It was a rough year for the lady 49ers. Almost a completely new team took to the court this year – and a young one at that. Of 14 new players, eight were true freshmen. While this fresh-faced new group became a close-knit group off the court, on the court was another story.
Head coach Mary Hegarty had her work cut out for her this season. As the season began with stats that once looked so good on paper, Hegarty saw none of them on the court. The girls often looked to the team’s leading scorer, Figueroa, for guidance on the court. But they looked to Figueroa too much, and guiding soon became relying.
A turning point was when LBSU switched to a zone defense from man-on-man defense, but it was coming together as a whole that finally enabled the team to start winning. They began playing as a unit, not as individual players playing with Figueroa and the other sophomore, O’Brien. Their group mentality made all the difference.
They may have come together late in the season, but it was just in time to pull off a couple of upsets in the conference tournament. They came together when it mattered most.
LBSU will have almost the same roster next season as it does this season. Only now the 49ers will have a team that is more experienced and more developed. If Jacob and Wade can become more accurate in perimeter shooting, between them, Figueroa, O’Brien and Tyresha Calhoun, the 49ers will have a lethal offense. With O’Brien, Jacob and Johnson on defense, few rebounds will be missed.
The women’s team will be the team to watch next year. With eight seniors graduating from the men’s team this year, including the entire starting lineup, the men will be facing the same problems the women did this season.
Recruiters will be forced to try and fill the shoes of Aaron Nixon, Kejuan Johnson, Kevin Houston, Mark Dawson and the rest of the senior-driven lineup – obviously some very large shoes to fill. While the men’s team attempts to rebuild, the women can sit back and think of how good it feels to be out of that stage.
So don’t worry, ladies, because this year might have been the men’s year. But next year it will be your turn to dance.
