Women's
basketball struggles versus LMU
Women's
basketball: The game was even during the
first half, but an 11-0 second-half run
propelled Loyola Marymount University past
the 49ers.
By
Paul DeCarlo
On-line Forty-Niner
After
being swept at the Coors Rocky Mountain
Invitational last weekend, Long Beach State's
(1-4) team defense continued to sputter
and made it three consecutive losses, falling
to Loyola Marymount University (4-1) Tuesday
night in The Pyramid, 66-53.
The
Lions got the best of the 49ers by outplaying
them in the second half, tallying its fourth
straight victory of the season. LMU went
on an 11-0 run early in the second half,
sending Long Beach State into a downward
spiral on both ends of the court.
"We
haven't put together 40 minutes yet,"
Coach Mary Hegarty said. "We have these
moments of brilliance, then people start
rebounding over us or going by us defensively
and we start standing on offense. Instead
of becoming more aggressive when that happens,
we're becoming more passive."
Bright spots for The Beach included a solid
offensive performance by center Petra Gläser,
who had game-high16 points, despite hauling
in only four rebounds in 37 minutes of action.
Adrianne
Slaughter was tough to stop inside for The
Beach in the first half, and went on to
grab six boards and 12 points for the Lions.
Kate Murray played well for the Lions in
the second half, finishing with 14 points
and 6 rebounds for LMU.
With
a halftime deficit of only four points,
The Beach came out quickly from the break
to tie the score and trade baskets for the
first four minutes of the second half, with
Jennifer Baker and Jayme Connors cutting
hard to the hoop for tough buckets. With
a tie score of 35 points apiece and 16:19
remaining in the game, the Lions scored
11 unanswered points, six of those coming
from uncontested layups and outside jumpers
by LMU's Jasmine Matthews.
Rebounding
and team pride are two major areas of concern
for Hegarty. Connors did have 10 boards
in Tuesday night's contest, but both she
and Gläser, who stands 6-foot-6 inches,
have only been averaging around six boards
per game.
"After
being on the road with this team for two
weekends, and bigger problem is what goes
on in their heads," Hegarty said. "It's
amazing to me what they are thinking sometimes,
that they just can't really do much, that
they don't really have very much power out
there."
Last
weekend's woes began with a 67-49 loss at
the hands of Colorado State on Friday night
in the first game of the Coors Rocky Mountain
Invitational. The Beach pulled to within
three points with eight minutes to go in
the second halt, then suffered at 27-6 run
by CSU to end the game.
Then,
Alabama easily dominated Long Beach State,
who only shot 40 percent from the floor,
by a score of 84-66 in the consolation game
last Saturday, Connors had a season-high
17 points in the loss.
The
49ers travel south to face the University
of San Diego Saturday at 2 p.m. before they
meet Fresno State in The Pyramid on Dec.
10.
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