The Long Beach State women’s basketball team did its best Jekyll and Hyde impersonation Thursday night at the Walter Pyramid.
After arguably its best offensive half of the season, the 49ers (5-17, 3-6 Big West Conference) overcame a shaky second half and won consecutive games for the first time this season in a 73-60 victory over the University of the Pacific.
Senior forward Courtney Jacob was at her box score-stuffing best, recording a game-high 23 points to go with seven rebounds, six steals and five assists.
“You could tell by the way that we came out in the first half that we were completely focused,” said Jacob, who was an efficient 6 of 8 from the floor — including four 3-pointers.
UOP (5-15, 2-5 Big West) was led by Gena Johnson’s 19 points off the bench.
Through the first eight minutes of the second half, a flow never developed thanks to a whistle-happy officiating crew and pair of careless teams. After combining for 20 fouls in the opening half, the teams racked up 15 fouls and Pacific found itself in the bonus at the 12:13 mark.
After trailing by as many as 24 points, the closest the Tigers would get was the final margin.
LBSU head coach Jody Wynn said her team was able to springboard off last week’s victory over UC Irvine.
“We really focused on building from that,” Wynn said. “Luckily, in the first half, we shot the ball very, very well and it gave us a big enough cushion for the rest of the second half.
“In the second half, I think we just lost a little bit of focus. It doesn’t matter, sometimes, what the coaches say. They know on the scoreboard that they’re up 23 points. You can tell them it’s 0-0 — and we did — but sometimes you lose a little focus.”
Jacob led a strong offensive performance en route to a 49-26 halftime lead for LBSU.
The 49ers, who shot 57.7 percent (15 of 26) in the half, opened the contest with a 27-9 run in the first nine minutes. In that span, Jacob scored 14 of her 22 first-half points with the help of three 3-pointers.
Meanwhile, the Tigers committed eight of their 14 first-half turnovers during the spurt.
The Beach cooled off in the second half, shooting just 26.9 percent (7 of 26) to finish at 42.3 percent (22 of 52) for the game. The ‘Niners and Tigers combined to shoot a lowly 28 percent in the final 20 minutes.
LBSU will return to action on the road Saturday in a Big West showdown against rival Cal State Fullerton. Tipoff at Titan Gym is scheduled for 3 p.m.
“[CSUF has] got four players on the floor that can all penetrate and shoot 3s every possession,” Wynn said. “Lyndsey Grove and Megan Richardson are two of the better players in the conference, if not in the top five or six, seven players in the conference.”
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