Women
dominate the court
By Toby Lewis
On-line Forty-Niner
Long
Beach State women’s basketball has started
the season with the strongest start in 11
seasons, opening up conference play in first
place.
 The
Beach started conference play with a 4-0
record after defeating Cal State Northridge
Thursday 72-59.
This is the strongest start the women’s
basketball team has had in over a decade.
The Beach will head out on a four game road
trip this week starting out with Cal Poly,
who is currently number three in the Big
West Thursday.
After Cal Poly, the Beach faces Santa Barbara,
the defending conference champions who are
currently seated at number two due to a
loss to Pacific last week.
“Santa Barbara is always a tough game,”
said Head Coach Dallas Bolla. They usually
pull about 500 people to their games, she
said.
“We get ready for each game at a time. We
can’t look forward for anybody,” Bolla said.
The Beach feels strong with senior Glory
Johnson averaging 20 points per game, leading
the Big West in scoring.
Sophomore guard Candice Wilson is also contributing
to the Beach’s success averaging 15 points
per game.
Currently, the Beach is averaging 72 points
per game and shooting 46 percent.
The team is looking forward to its continued
success.
If the team can get to 6-0, it will be starting
just as strong as the teams led by Joan
Bonvicini in 1987-88 and 1988-89 that both
went 18-0 and made two consecutive appearances
in the final four.
In each of Bolla’s eight seasons as head
coach, the team has never started its first
ten games with a winning record.
They have, however, finished the last four
season’s with winning records.
Injuries do not seem to be a factor, in
spite of the loss of starting center Jayme
Conners for the season due to a bone fracture
in her left ankle.
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