After dropping two straight games, the Long Beach State women’s basketball team got back in the win column with an encouraging 71-62 victory over Washington on Sunday at the Walter Pyramid.
Sophomore point guard Alex Sanchez led the 49ers (2-2) with a season-high scoring output of 18 points and seven assists. Junior forward Jade Wilson pitched in with 11 points and eight rebounds, as Devin Hudson and Lauren Spargo provided additional scoring off the bench with 12 and 13 points, respectively.
LBSU’s triumph over the Huskies (2-1) is its first win over a Pac-12 program since it edged out Washington State 61-55 in 2007.
“This is a big win for the program,” head coach Jody Wynn said. “It brings confidence to our young ladies.”
Sanchez and Chantel Dooley combined for 12 assists as the ‘Niners posted a season-high 20 assists altogether. Efficient distribution from the backcourt helped the team shoot 8-for-16 from the 3-point line at halftime, giving them a commanding 14-point lead at the break. Spargo hit four 3-pointers in the game, and Sanchez, Mary Ochiltree and Ella Clark connected two apiece.
Defensively, the ‘Niners held the Huskies to just 30.8 percent shooting from the field.
“We really emphasize sharing the ball, making the extra pass and having each other’s back defensively,” Wynn said. “Honestly, we emphasize it every single day. We don’t want anybody to be afraid to take a shot, or attack the basket when it’s appropriate.”
Wynn shuffled her starting lineup once again, rewarding sophomore guard Bianka Balthazar with her first start of the season after she led the team with 14 points in a loss to Loyola Marymount on Thursday.
“We’ve always said we don’t just have five starters,” Wynn said. “We are a whole team and the first people out there are the first people out that day. We don’t put a lot of emphasis on one or two players. It’s a total team. The girls buy in to that and they believe in that and they trust one another.”
The two teams fought a close battle to start the game, but Clark’s 3-pointer with just over four minutes remaining in the opening half completed an 11-2 run by the ‘Niners which built a 33-19 lead. The Beach held a double-digit lead for the rest of the half, and their dominance was accentuated with 44 seconds left. That was when Spargo hit her fourth successful shot from beyond the arc to end the half with a 40-26 lead.
The ‘Niners continued their dominance with a 9-3 run to begin the second half. Five minutes into the half, Clark’s 3-pointer put LBSU up 49-29 and seemingly out of the Huskies’ reach.
Washington, however, stunned the ‘Niners by scraping its way back from a 20-point deficit. The Huskies went on a furious 24-6 run in a span of 10 minutes after Kristia King’s three cut the deficit to just two points at 57-55 at the 4:15 mark.
LBSU survived the onslaught though and secured the win as Hudson scored four straight points after the timeout. Sanchez’s 3-pointer under two minutes remaining in regulation put the ‘Niners back up 64-55.
The ‘Niners quickly regained their double-digit lead and put the game to sleep with a pair of free throws by Sanchez at the 1:05 mark.
With its record back at .500, LBSU will next go on a two-game road trip. The 49ers will take on Utah Valley on Friday before traveling to Palo Alto to face No. 4 Stanford two days later.