The Long Beach State women’s basketball team begins the second half of their Big West schedule visiting UC Irvine on Thursday, followed by a Saturday game at the Walter Pyramid against UC Riverside.
The 49ers will face two of the Big West’s top scorers in Irvine’s senior forward Camille Buckley and Riverside’s sophomore guard Brittany Crain, whose great aunt was civil rights activist Rosa Parks.
The 5-foot-8 Crain is the second highest scorer in the Big West at 18.5 points per game coming into the weekend. The 6-foot-1 Buckley is tied for fourth in the conference at 16.3 points per game and averages a league-best 10.4 rebounds per contest.
“Buckley is one of the most prolific scorers in the league who has an incredible nose for the ball,” head coach Jody Wynn said. “Crain is a great scorer who can do multiple things and this year they have some kids around her that can do a lot of things. It should be a fun week.”
The Anteaters managed to split games up north against UC Santa Barbara, 77-60, and Cal Poly in a close, 84-79 game.
Irvine junior Jennifer Tsurumoto is also a big part of the Anteaters offense, averaging 15.4 points per contest to go along with 3.6 assists per game. Tsurumoto led UCI to force an overtime game against LBSU earlier this year on January 9.
“We always knew she was one of the best guards in the league,” Wynn said. “She put up 30 points on multiple occasions and you don’t do that by accident. There will be a concentrated effort on her not being able to get to the rim as easily and freely as she did the first time around.”
UCR is coming into this weekend riding a 13-game losing streak that dates back to Dec. 6. Depending on what happens against Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, the Highlanders could see two straight months without a win.
LBSU split the season series last year with both teams winning in the other team’s house. The 49ers beached the Highlanders at home 80-66, while Riverside slid by with a 50-49 win at the Pyramid.
The 49ers fell to Riverside in the last seconds after game-winning free throws clinched their defeat early on in the conference schedule last season. In their second meeting, The Beach scored the most points they had in any game last year behind Saturday’s British Night honoree, Ella Clark, who scored 16 points and logged four rebounds.
LBSU’s Thursday game at UC Irvine will start at 4:30 p.m. The 49ers will then return to the Pyramid for a 4 p.m. game against the Highlanders.