After a disappointing loss to the Cal Poly Mustangs Jan. 25, the 49ers’ women’s basketball team is looking to rebound against the UC Davis Aggies Thursday.
“UC Davis isn’t great with a lot of ball pressure,” senior guard Cecily Wilson said. “We’re going to try to pressure them as much as we can and make sure their shooters don’t get into a rhythm.”
Coming into the contest, the 49ers have gotten off to a rough start to conference play with a record of 0-6, an overall record of 2-18 and are currently mired in a deep slump, during which the team has lost 11 straight games. Inexperience has plagued the team to start, as Long Beach turned the ball over five times, were outscored 28-12 in the final period and shot less than 40 percent from the field against Cal Poly.
Having a strong defensive presence is important, as the Aggies have three players scoring in double-figures this season. They are led by junior forward Morgan Bertsch’s 18 points per game. The 49ers are going to have their hands full defending one of the conference’s top offenses, ranking first in multiple offensive categories such as field goal percentage and 3-point percentage.
“I think they’re going to underlook us because of our record,” senior guard Jessica Gertz said. “We know we’ve had some pretty close games and I think that if we come out like we did last game, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing as long as we take care of what we need to do.”
This doesn’t come as a big surprise for a team that has eight freshman and a ton of turnover on the roster.
“I think it’s more of a ‘lead by example’ kind of thing,” Wilson said. “The freshman haven’t experienced anything like that, so I think they’ll be better once we play another team like Cal Poly with the pressure.”
That being said, Long Beach isn’t backing down from the challenge, considering that it’s viewed as the underdog. Wilson says that despite their current losing streak, they are focused on getting better and following the coaches’ game plan.
“Just knowing we are getting better,,” Gertz said. “We just need to watch our film, see what we’re doing repeatedly and fix that for the games to come.”
Look for a more focused group as the 49ers face the UC Davis Aggies at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Walter Pyramid.