What a world of difference a week made.
Just eight days removed from a 19-point thrashing, the Long Beach State women’s basketball team may have put a scare into the opposing teams of the Big West Conference on Saturday.
The 49ers (7-19, 5-7 Big West) moved into sixth place in the conference standings after a thrilling 60-59 come-from-behind victory over UC Davis (17-7, 7-5 Big West) at the Walter Pyramid.
“It feels really good to win two in a row,” LBSU head coach Jody Wynn said. “When [our] team gets a big win, they start believing [in themselves] and I’m just really proud of them staying together, moving the ball offensively, and not playing so much one-on-one basketball in the second half.”
The win marked the first for the ‘Niners over a top-3 opponent in the Big West, where they held just a one-game lead for eighth place prior to Thursday’s victory over Cal State Northridge.
Senior Courtney Jacob led the way for LBSU with 17 points, but none bigger than the game-winning free-throw she hit with 4.9 seconds remaining in regulation.
“Yeah, of course I had butterflies, but that’s what competition is all about,” Jacob said of her emotions just before draining the game-winner. “We shoot free throws all the time [in practice] and it should be just another free throw. That’s how I tried to think of it.”
Trailing 49-41 with just over 11 minutes left to play, 49ers guard Melanie Lisnock buried a right-wing 3 to prompt an 11-3 run that tied the game at 52.
From there, both teams embarked on a sea-saw exchange of baskets before Jacob nailed a corner 3 to give The Beach a 58-55 lead with 51.3 seconds to play as the crowd erupted.
“[Assistant] coach Derek Wynn has been hounding me for making a big play in a game,” Jacob joked. “And I just wanted to get one for him.”
Each team then split a pair of free throws before Davis guard Heidi Heintz drove into the paint for a game-tying layup with 11.2 seconds on the clock.
From there, LBSU put the ball in the hands of Jacob, who drew a shooting foul on the way up for a floating hook shot with 4.5 seconds remaining.
Jacob missed the first free throw before sinking home her second attempt for the eventual victory.
The Aggies had time for one last opportunity to win. But LBSU’s tenacious defense forced Kasey Riecks to throw up a desperation shot that caught nowhere near the rim as time expired.
“We always knew we had it in us [to get the win],” LBSU guard Brandi Henton said. “It was just a matter of things we had to tie together to play a whole 40 minutes … so now we’re going in to each game with more and more confidence.”
Henton added a double-double for the ‘Niners with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, despite missing 15 of her 19 attempts from the field.
“I just depend on my athletic ability [to get rebounds] and I get through the cuts and the lanes, usually,” Henton said.
Meanwhile, Paige Mintum was the only Davis player to register double figures in scoring with 14 points and added a team-high eight rebounds. However, Riecks and Samantha Meggison scored nine apiece, but combined to miss 9 of 14 shots.
LBSU shot 32.8 percent from the field (20 of 61), while Davis finished the game with a 32.2 percent clip (19 of 59).
The Beach also won the turnover battle as it committed 14 to the Aggies’ 15, and out-rebounded Davis, 46-44.
“Last time we played [UC Davis on their home floor], we played ‘kick the can’ and had 27 turnovers,” Wynn said. “We really tried to make that a point of emphasis — to place extreme value on that basketball.”
The 49ers will continue Big West play Thursday against UC Riverside for a 7 p.m. tipoff at the Walter Pyramid.
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