After a tough two-game Northern California road trip, the Long Beach State women’s basketball team are glad to be back in the friendly confines of the Walter Pyramid.
The 49ers used the home-cooking to defeat UC Santa Barbara 46-34 on Thursday night–improving their record to 7-2 at home this season.
LBSU head coach Jody Wynn said her team is much more comfortable at home, especially because they are so young.
“It’s great to play in front of your hometown.” She said, “For young kids, especially, it’s tough to bring the same intensity to road games, but we’re trying to work through that and it’s great to have our Long Beach crowd.”
Senior Tipesa Moorer led all scorers with 14 points on 6 of 12 shooting, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range. Moorer also finished with four rebounds. Freshman Devin Hudson pitched in six points on 3 of 12 shooting, while pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds.
Freshman Alex Sanchez had another efficient all-around game, scoring eight points on 3 of 4 shooting, while pulling down seven rebounds and dishing out two assists.
Coach Wynn was happy with her squad’s intensity coming into this game.
“I think it was a team effort defensively as well as offensively.” She said, “I was very pleased with the focus we had leading into this game, and it transferred over to the court tonight.”
The focus helped the ‘Niners shoot 36.7 percent for the contest (18 of 49), including 6 of 16 from behind the arc against a team who ranks eighth in the country in field goal percentage defense. The Beach was able to match the Gauchos defensive prowess. The 34 points the ‘Niners gave up is the fewest since allowing 33 to San Jose in 1988.
“They [UCSB] hold teams to 52 points per game, and we knew it was going to be a grind,” said coach Wynn.
She added: “I think our defense was outstanding, aside from the 10 offensive boards that we gave up, I thought our defense was outstanding.”
LBSU held the Gauchos to just 27.8 percent (15 of 54) shooting for the contest. The Gauchos also had a tough time from 3-point range on the evening, connecting on just 2 of 13 from behind the arc.
Moorer said that after the ‘Niners two losses on the road last week, they made an effort to get better on defense in practice.
“Against [UC] Davis and Pacific, we got broken down too easily, so we focused on our defenisve mindset in practice this week,” said Moorer.
The 49ers (8-11, 3-3 Big West) went on a 10-2 run, which lasted 8:49 to open the second half. The run gave them a 19-point lead, 37-18, their largest of the evening. The ‘Niners advantage never dwindled to less than 12 for the remainder of the contest.
Coach Wynn felt like her team unselfishly executed the offense throughout the game.
“We concentrated on moving the ball and sharing the ball.” She said, “The good thing about our team is no one cares who shoots the ball, and that’s the beauty of an unselfish team like we have.”
The ‘Niners dominated the first half, shooting 34.5 percent (10 of 29) from the field, while using a combination of of zone press and man-to-man defenses to slow down any Gaucho run. UCSB (7-9, 2-3 Big West) shot just 20.7 percent (6 of 29), including just 1 of 8 from 3-point range.
The Beach took a 24-14 lead into the break with Moorer pacing the attack with 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range.
Hudson seemed to be the focal point of the offense, setting up in the paint early and often to the tune of 10 first half shot attempts.
Coach Wynn said that having Hudson in the middle makes a huge difference.
“She [Hudson] has been working her way into game shape.” She said, “It’s been an obstacle for her [Hudson] and us [the team], Devin is a different presence for us, and we haven’t had that in a few years.”
Hudson was able to connect on just 2 of 10 from the field for four points, but her activity on the offensive glass is what helped give LBSU second chance opportunities. Hudson dominated the glass in the opening period, grabbing 9 first half rebounds, including 3 on the offensive end.
UCSB was paced by sophomore Nicole Nesbit who finished the contest with 11 points on 5 of 8 shooting. No other Gaucho scored more than seven points for the game.
LBSU will host Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Saturday. Tip is scheduled for 4 p.m.
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