A stifling full-court zone defense was too much for Utah Valley to handle Friday night as the Long Beach State women’s basketball team cruised to its largest margin of victory since 2006.
The 49ers shot 39.7 percent from the field, scored 31 points off turnovers and collected 19 steals en route to a 75-43 victory over the Wolverines in both teams’ season opener at the Walter Pyramid.
The ‘Niners (1-0) held UV (0-1) to a dismal 22.6 percent shooting and forced a whopping 30 turnovers.
Sophomore forward Ella Clark led all scorers with 16 points, a career-high seven blocks and eight rebounds.
Senior forward and co-captain Tipesa Moorer added a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards.
Freshman guard Bianka Balthazar chipped in with 11 points off the bench and went 2-of-3 from 3-point range.
“[It was] a total team effort tonight,” 49ers head coach Jody Wynn said. “We needed this; We needed this for our confidence.”
Indeed, the ‘Niners made do with their injury-riddled roster. Eight of the 49ers‘ 13 players had sustained some form of injury since they held their first practice on Oct. 2. All nine of their active players scored, and the LBSU bench outmatched the Wolverine’s reserves, 30-7.
The 49ers fell behind early, though, but after a 3-point play by Moorer that put them up by three points with five minutes to go in the first half, they never looked back.
LBSU closed the half on an 11-4 run with a full-court zone that wore the Wolverines down as the game progressed.
“We were able to keep fresh bodies in there so the energy was high,” Wynn said of the full-court press.
The Wolverines, who shot 26.9 percent from the field in the first half, converted on 18.6 percent of their shots in the second.
With a nine-point lead heading into the second half, LBSU pulled away with a 24-4 run to take a commanding 73-41 advantage with 1:12 left to play.
Wynn said that the ‘Niners, who were picked to finish last in a Big West Conference preseason poll, showed a modest crowd what they were capable of from both ends of the court.
“We tell the girls: ‘be ready, be ready,'” Wynn said. “Anybody at anytime can take an open shot.”
Wynn credited her team’s camaraderie for the victory and her players agreed.
“Everyone wants to have an impact on this program and try to get it back where it was before,” Clark said.
Moorer added: “I couldn’t pick a better group of girls to go out with my last season.”
The Beach will return to action to face Syracuse on Sunday in New York. Tipoff is scheduled at 10 a.m.
Game notes
Wynn said junior guard Jhakia McDonald will be sidelined for another week, while center Devin Hudson, who started practicing with the team Tuesday, is still day-to-day.
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