FULLERTON — After coming off consecutive victories for the first time this year, the Long Beach State women’s basketball team reverted to the same struggles it has had all season on Saturday.
This time, it was defending the 3-point line.
The 49ers surrendered 10 3-pointers — all of which were uncontested — as Cal State Fullerton used a 20-3 run in the second half to pull away with a 64-48 victory at Titan Gym.
“This was very tough to swallow,” LBSU head coach Jody Wynn said. “Especially because we talked about having a concentrated effort on guarding the 3-point line tonight, and that’s what we’ve worked on for the past few days and that’s what we studied on film.”
Tied at 38 with 10:13 remaining, the Titans seized control of the contest when Lyndsey Grove’s back-to-back 3s from the baseline prompted a 17-point lead the ‘Niners couldn’t recover from.
In that six-minute span, The Beach missed of 8-of-9 from the field, while CSUF drained 6-of-7 — four of which were 3s.
Senior forward Courtney Jacob paced LBSU (5-18, 3-7 Big West Conference) with her third consecutive double-double as she tallied 20 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Brandi Henton and Ella Clark added nine apiece, but combined to miss 11-of-18 from the field.
“I think we lost a little bit of our focus,” Jacob said. “We had some confusion in our defense and we didn’t communicate with each other. We had had a lot of mismatches that we needed to direct and we just couldn’t take care of it.”
Meanwhile, the Titans (8-14, 4-5 Big West) were led by Lauren Chow’s 20 points off the bench on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting, including 6-of-6 from beyond the arc, which tied a school record for 3-point percentage in a game.
“I think the record doesn’t really compare to us getting a win,” Chow said. “I mean, the win puts us in a good spot and hopefully it gives us some momentum. I mean, it’s a record, but I like the ‘W’ better.”
Grove added 16 points — all of which came in the second period — on 5-of-11 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Megan Richardson and Jenna Breite also chipped in with 10 points each.
Down 17 after a corner 3 from Chow, the 49ers made their last run at a comeback by going on a 7-0 spurt that was sparked by a driving layup from Jacob with 4:07 left to play.
However, a 10-point deficit would be the closest the ‘Niners would get as CSUF cruised to the 16-point win.
“It deflates you when kids get open shot after open shot after open shot,” Wynn said. “We had 17 [3-point attempts] but only knocked down three of them, and the other team knocked down 10. The role is reversed from our last two games.”
The Beach opened up the contest by taking a 12-9 edge after a straightaway 3 from Clark with 11 minutes gone by in the first half.
From there, both teams exchanged baskets for the next four minutes until Chow keyed an 8-0 run to take a 25-20 lead with 2:09 remaining in the period.
However, LBSU responded by capitalizing on three CSUF turnovers as Clark hit back-to-back shots in the final 35 seconds to cut the deficit to 25-24 at the break.
Despite finishing with a 20-10 advantage in points in the paint, the 49ers shot a disappointing 18-of-56 from the field (32.1 percent), while the Titans made 22-of-58 (37.9 percent).
The Titans also out-rebounded the ‘Niners, 41-37, and recorded 17 assists to LBSU’s nine.
“We didn’t move the ball,” Wynn said. “It looked like we played selfish basketball and we didn’t trust the offense, and trust that somebody else was gonna make the play.
“Tonight, I think the defensive pressure that they applied on us stagnated us a little bit.”
The Beach will return to action Friday for a nonconference matchup against Seattle at the Walter Pyramid. The 7 p.m. meeting will be the only game the 49ers play next week.
“We need to refocus,” Jacob said. “We know what track we have to be on and I think we’ll get there. We just have to have a few good practices and then get ready for the next game.”
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