Playing on the road to start the Big West Conference Tournament won’t be an easy task for the Long Beach State women’s basketball team. Then again, it’s been that way all season.
Of the nine teams in the Big West, The Beach has the worst overall record at 1-12 on the road, where it hasn’t won a game since its 14-point victory on Jan. 5. But that was against No. 9 Cal State Northridge — the only team in the conference to not qualify for the eight-team tournament.
The No. 6-seeded 49ers (8-22, 6-10 Big West) are on a three-game losing streak — all of which were away games — and now find themselves against No. 3 UC Riverside (18-11, 11-5 Big West), which beat them by 18 points in the regular-season finale last Wednesday.
Tipoff at the Student Recreation Center in Riverside on Tuesday is scheduled for 7 p.m.
LBSU head coach Jody Wynn thinks that playing in Riverside gives her team the opportunity to prove itself.
“I just think that it gives our kids an immediate chance to make up for some mistakes we had less than a week ago,” Wynn said.
Meanwhile, UCR head coach John Margaritis said he doesn’t think his team has home-court advantage.
“It’s one game and we’ve lost at home before,” Margaritis said. “If somebody comes in and they’re ready to play and the other team is not, you start to feel the pressure and you lose.”
Despite the 49ers’ recent 83-65 loss to the Highlanders, they will head into the contest knowing that they’ve beaten UCR once before, earning them a split in the season series.
However, in LBSU’s lone win, the Highlanders — winners of five in a row — were without one of their key players in Tre’Shonti Nottingham, who was out with a concussion that game. Nottingham’s 16 points and six steals in her most recent outing against LBSU proved to be the difference.
Nottingham, a first-team all-conference selection, also leads UCR in scoring (13.4 points per game) and is tops in the Big West in steals (2.4 per outing).
But she won’t be the only the factor standing in The Beach’s way.
Brittany Waddell, an honorable mention honoree, will arguably pose as the most difficult threat. In the two games, she averaged 20 points and four steals.
“Hopefully, we’ll have better energy and understand a little bit better of how [Waddell] likes to score,” Wynn said.
The ‘Niners must also avoid fouling Waddell at all costs. She hit a perfect 12-of-12 from the free-throw line in two games against LBSU — accounting for nearly one-third of her output.
From an offensive standpoint, The Beach’s first order of business will be to place a concentrated effort on maintaining possession of the ball.
In its last meeting, the Highlanders converted 27 LBSU turnovers into 37 points.
Courtney Jacob and Ella Clark struggled with their shot in the last meeting, and combined for 26 points on 5 of 18 from the field.
However, Jacob understands that it’s going to take more than just a stellar shooting performance to advance into the semifinals.
“Our mindset on this game is definitely do or die,” Jacob said. “We know that we have to go out there and take care of the ball, rebound and defend. And without those three things we’re not gonna win.”
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