Christmas may be six days away, but the Long Beach State women’s basketball team received an early present Sunday to open up the Beach Classic at the Walter Pyramid.
The 49ers (2-10) pulled away with a 72-62 victory over Florida A&M (3-4) in a game that saw three of the Rattlers’ five starters foul out in the closing four minutes. As a result, 33 of LBSU’s 44 free-throw attempts came during the second half, whereas the Rattlers took just 22 for the entire contest.
“This is a rare occurrence,” LBSU head coach Jody Wynn said of the disparity. “I don’t think we’ve ever been— in the history I’ve been here— been at the free-throw line more than 44 times or anywhere near it.
“But the game was out of hand and there were a lot of intentional and flagrant fouls going on.”
Meanwhile, 49ers freshman Brandi Henton tied her career high as she erupted for 25 of her 30 points in the second period. Henton shot a stellar 15-of-16 from the free-throw line to go along with a 7-of-11 performance from the field.
The Modesto native also added 9 rebounds¬¬ — two shy of her career high.
“I’m more open because [Henton] is able to drive, penetrate, and grab a couple more defenders,” senior Courtney Jacob said. “And it helps having another scorer out there.”
Jacob posted her first double-double of the season as she added 16 points and a career-high 13 boards.
“This game was enormous for us,” Jacob said. “We’re riding a high right now and we’re going to take this through conference.
“We just needed a spark to get us there and this was our spark.”
Antonia Bennett and Tameka McKelton, who both fouled out, paced the Rattlers with 19 points apiece. Bennett also grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.
After holding a slim 27-25 lead at the break, The Beach stormed out to an 11-3 run to take its largest lead of the contest. Jacob found an open Tipesa Moorer underneath the basket for the score with three minutes gone by in the second period.
However, FAMU pulled to within a point after a 9-0 run capped by a jumper from Nicole Collins with 13:48 left to play.
After trading baskets for the next 10 minutes, the Rattlers took their first lead of the half, 60-58, after five unanswered points from Bennett.
But the ‘Niners responded with Henton’s relentless attacks to the basket to take a 62-60 advantage they never relinquished just before the game got physical.
Officials called a technical foul on Bennett after she shoved Melanie Lisnock to the ground in the midst of a media timeout with 3:38 remaining.
From there, FAMU was called for nine fouls¬ — including two technicals — the rest of the way as LBSU scored 10 of the contest’s last 14 points from the charity stripe. In that span, the Rattlers bench was visibly upset that the 49ers were not called for a single foul.
Bennett and McKelton both picked up their fifth fouls just 15 seconds apart after a pair of questionable calls from the officials.
To add to the chippy play, Qiana Donald became the third Rattler to foul out of the game after delivering an intentional elbow to Lisnock’s jaw with 33 seconds left. The FAMU bench angrily contested the call and was issued a technical foul after head coach LeDawn Gibson got into a verbal exchange with the officials.
Despite shooting 21-of-62 (33.9 percent) from the field, including a woeful 1-of-24 (4.3 percent) from the 3-point line, The Beach hung on for the 10-point victory. Meanwhile, The Rattlers shot a dismal 22-of-68 (32.4 percent).
“It’s like we needed seatbelts or something,” Wynn said. “Anything can happen on any given night because basketball is a game of runs, and it’s those that make the fewest mistakes and make big plays down the stretch that tend to win.”
The 49ers return to action as they conclude the Beach Classic on Tuesday against North Carolina State. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid.
Game notes
Lisnock returned after being sidelined for the first 11 games of the season with a stress fracture underneath her left kneecap.
Despite a 2-for-11 shooting performance from the field, the Huntington Beach native registered nine points in 29 minutes of play.
“Melanie is a tough kid,” Wynn said. “She’s a threat and it’s going to take time because she just started practicing four days ago.
“But she provides us with an outside threat, a sense of calm, and to relieve pressure on Henton and Jacob with the ball handling responsibility.”
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