Home
opener a success for Hegarty's hoopers
Jon
Cook/On-line Forty-Niner
Senior
Lauren Bull sinks a lay-up as the defense
of Eastern Washington flies by in Sunday's
comeback win.
By
Paul DeCarlo
On-line Forty-Niner
Long
Beach State (1-1) triumphantly turned it
around in The Pyramid Sunday to beat Eastern
Washington (1-1), following a Friday night
loss in the season opener at New Mexico
State (1-0). The 49ers fought back from
a 12-point second half deficit to down Eastern
Washington, 74-66.
Center
Petra Gläser, standing 6-foot-6, shot
50 percent from the floor with 10 points
in the first half to lead The Beach, but
Eastern Washington's ball movement and fundamentally
sound play earned them an eight-point lead
going into the locker room.
Eastern
Washington ran up and down the floor, converted
easy buckets and made 18 of 20 first half
free throws, but only sank 2-for-5 in the
second half.
"I
thought we did a real good job in the second
half of playing better defense without fouling,"
said head coach Mary Hegarty, who told her
team at halftime to forget about the questionable
calls from the referees. "Our guard
pressure, especially on the perimeter, really
did a good job of giving (Eastern Washington)
some trouble."
The
Beach defense cut off passing lanes for
Eastern Washington, forcing key turnovers
that sparked a 14-2 run late in the game.
Guards Christina Mack and Candice Wilson
stepped up pressure on the ball and created
steals and deflections throughout the 49er
comeback.
A
strong shooting performance by sophomore
guard Crystal McCutcheon, who led all scorers
Sunday with 21 points, along with senior
Lauren Bull's aggressive slashing to the
rim, was too much for Eastern Washington
in the end. McCutcheon hit Bull in the corner
for a crucial three-pointer with 3:41 left
in the second half that cut the lead to
three. Bull then gave the 49ers their first
lead of the game with 2:46 to go, driving
hard for two crucial back-to-back fast-break
layups, the second courtesy of another dish
from McCutcheon.
"Lauren
[Bull] played like I want all my seniors
to play," Hegarty said. "Her energy
and enthusiasm really helped us fight through
the fatigue."
"I
was ready to win today," Bull said.
"We got ourselves in such a hole in
the first half that we really had to come
out and get after it [in the second half]."
Last
Friday's disappointing start to the season
came in the form of a 56-48 loss at New
Mexico State. Fouls plagued the 49ers throughout
the contest, and the team only shot 7-for-15
at the free-throw line. The Aggies, in turn,
dominated by shooting 60 percent from the
floor in the first half after hitting its
first eight baskets. New Mexico State led
the game from start to finish, getting 17
points from its star player, Sinnamonn Garrett.
The
Beach travels to Colorado this coming weekend
for the Coors Rocky Mountain Invite, where
they will play Colorado State on Friday
and then face either Boston College or Alabama
on Saturday. The next home game for the
49ers is Tuesday, Dec. 2, when the team
hosts Loyola Marymount.
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