If the Long Beach State women’s basketball team was looking to make a statement Saturday, then it couldn’t have picked a better game to do it.
Just 13 days ago, the 49ers walked off the Bren Events Center floor feeling embarrassed and dejected after giving up a season-high 11 3-pointers in an 18-point drubbing at UC Irvine.
This time around, however, the ‘Niners wouldn’t make the same mistake as they snapped their four-game losing streak in a thrilling 80-79 victory over the Anteaters at the Walter Pyramid.
“It was a collective effort,” LBSU head coach Jody Wynn said. “And for the first time in a long time, we had effort combined with performance.
“And for the most part, we executed the game-plan, stepped up, and made big shots and big stops.”
Tied at 79, 49ers senior guard Courtney Jacob attacked the basket and drew a foul with 17 seconds left to play. Jacob would miss the first free throw, but would rattle home her second attempt as LBSU took an 80-79 lead.
Then, with 5.4 seconds left, the Anteaters tried to feed the ball down in the post to Mikah Maly-Karros, but 49ers freshman Ella Clark managed to slap the ball out of her hands. From there, the ball was batted out to UCI guard Kassandra McCallister, who then fired off a last-second 3 from the left wing that fell short as Tipesa Moorer caught a piece of the ball for the block.
The crowd then erupted as the 49ers bench rushed onto the court to celebrate the victory.
“This win certainly helps the morale of everyday practice, knowing that what we’re trying to do is gonna pay off,” Wynn said. “I mean, we can still play this game, guys.”
Brandi Henton led the way for The Beach (4-17, 2-6 Big West Conference) with 29 points on 10-of-18 from the field. Sendy Valles added a career-high 24 points on an impressive 8-of-9 shooting, including a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range.
“This win was really exciting,” Henton said. “I mean, we prepared all week for this [game]. We put in extra work after practice, watched game film 24/7, and all of our hard work just came together and we executed.”
Wynn was adamant in her praise of Valles’ performance and recent emergence on the team.
“In the beginning of the season, [Valles] wasn’t really understanding our [game] philosophy so it was harder for her to play when she didn’t really know where she was on the floor,” Wynn said. “Now, she’s getting that confidence so she’s not thinking as much and she’s playing more off of her instincts.”
Jacob chipped in with a double-double as she registered 13 points and a team-high 12 rebounds along with six assists.
Meanwhile, Maly-Karros paced UCI (11-7, 3-3 Big West) with her 12th double-double of the season as she recorded 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. Jade Smith-Williams added 15 points — 12 of which came in the second half — and four steals, but fouled out with just under a minute remaining.
After trailing, 76-70, with 3:32 left to play, the Anteaters went on a 6-0 run that was capped by a straightway 3 from Kelly Meggs to even up the contest.
From there, Smith-Williams was issued her fifth personal foul with 56.9 seconds remaining, sending Henton to the free-throw line where she split a pair. Both teams then exchanged leads before LBSU forward Ashley Bookman fouled out of the game as she hooked Kiara Belen’s arm with 19.5 seconds on the clock.
Fortunately for the ‘Niners, Belen was only able to convert on one of her free-throw attempts, tying the game at 79 and setting up the finish.
Despite committing 17 turnovers to UCI’s 12, The Beach tied a season high with 10 3-pointers on 21 attempts (47.6 percent), while the Anteaters were held to just 5-of-15 (33.3 percent) from long distance.
“We followed our game plan,” Henton said. “Our plan was to contain every player by not allowing any open shots this time and that’s what we did.”
LBSU also held a 41-36 rebounding edge and finished with 12 second-chance points to UCI’s six.
“It’s the second half of conference [play] and it’s time to step up,” Moorer said. “I know we’re down and everything, and we haven’t won much, but there’s still a lot of time left and we got this.”
After holding a 33-28 edge, the 49ers gave up five unanswered points, which was sparked by a 3 from Meggs with 3:16 remaining in the first half.
However, LBSU stormed back as Valles keyed a 9-2 run — seven of which she accounted for, including a corner 3 — to close out the half with a 42-35 lead.
The ‘Niners shot 47.4 percent from the field (27 of 57), while the Anteaters shot 45.6 percent (31 of 68) to finish the contest.
The Beach will continue Big West action Thursday when it plays host to Pacific at the Walter Pyramid. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
The last meeting between the two teams resulted in 76-65 victory for Pacific on Jan. 15 at the Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton.
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