The Long Beach State women’s basketball team displayed a dominant performance against Fresno State in the first half Friday night at The Walter Pyramid, but then allowed that same performance against them in the second half.
What was a wondrous 20 minutes turned upside down for the 49ers, as they blew an 13-point second half lead to lose 66-55 to the previously winless Bulldogs.
LBSU (1-6) went from shooting 46 percent while leading 31-20 at the half to shooting a dismal 29 percent in the second while being outscored 46-24 over the final 20 minutes.
The talk of the game was the absence of a star on one team and the rise of one on another. Star guard Karina Figueroa had one of the worst shooting performances in her career at LBSU, making only one of 13 shots and finishing with two points in 32 minutes.
Fresno State’s Tierre Wilson, leading the team with 17 points per game entering the contest, scored a game-high 28 points on 10-18 shooting. Brown also had seven rebounds, including a no-look pass to LaShaunte Stephens, who made an easy layup to give the Bulldogs (1-6) their first lead of the game at 40-39 with 13 minutes left.
LBSU showed its offensive intensity early, running out to an early 7-0 lead three minutes into the game. The 49ers had their biggest lead of the game with four minutes left in the first half, leading 29-16.
The Bulldogs took 15 3-point shots in the first half and missed all of them. The Bulldogs’ horrific 3-point shooting and nine first-half turnovers led to several easy scores for the 49ers and an 11-point lead at the half.
Two completely different teams came out in the second half, as Fresno State became the team capitalizing on LBSU’s miscues and missed shots. Brown would take over the game from there, scoring 20 points in the second half on 6-9 shooting as the Bulldogs employed a full-court press defense to force turnovers and several fast-break points.
Fresno State used the fast-break approach to draw several fouls. After taking only three free throws in the first half, the Bulldogs took 21 in the second, making 16 of them.
Junior post player Kaiti O’Brien, who led the team with 16 points, was limited to 19 minutes and fouled out late in the second half as LBSU continued to miss shot after shot late in the game.
Rebounds also killed the 49ers’ chances of staying afloat in the second half. The Bulldogs out-rebounded LBSU 26-13 in the second, and 47-30 for the game.
Head coach Mary Hegarty expressed complete disappointment for the team’s letdown in the second half.
“We played extremely well on Saturday [against Portland State],” Hegarty said. “For us to get run over like that is extremely disappointing. We had to contain them, which we didn’t do.”
As for Figueroa’s dreadful shooting performance, Hegarty believed the bigger issue was at the boards and on defense.
“Karina just didn’t have her shot,” Hegarty said. “We were so passive defensively, and it’s different to rebound then. Rebounding is something that we have to work on.”
Despite the discouraging loss, the team may have discovered an emerging presence in the paint in sophomore forward Nondi Johnson, who managed to lead the team in rebounds with six in only 11 minutes.
“Nondi’s one of the few that I singled out in the locker room,” Hegarty said. “She played well.”
And Tierre Wilson’s scoring outburst did not go unrecognized by Hegarty.
“Tierre’s a great player,” Hegarty said. “She got loose during that stretch [in the second half] and did what good players do in the end.”
LBSU will host Arizona Sunday afternoon at The Walter Pyramid in the second game of the team’s season-high seven straight home contests. Arizona, at 2-4, is expected to be hungry for a victory much like the Bulldogs were, and Hegarty said she hopes the team will be able to find its identity come Sunday.
“Trying to find the consistent response from my team has not been there,” Hegarty said.
