Women's basketball attracts fans

Cookout • Art Johnson, president of Fast Break Boosters poses with a hotdog at a hot-dog cookout on Saturday for the team's first full-court scrimmage of the season. David Whisler / Online Forty-Niner

 

By David Whisler
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

Fans, friends and families of Long Beach State Women's Basketball gathered in the Gold Mine gym on Saturday for the team's first full-court scrimmage of the season.

After the victory of black jerseys over white, 52 - 34, attendees were treated to a hot-dog cookout in the Legacy Courtyard adjacent to the Physical Education building.

The event, hosted by the Fast Break Boosters, was held to show appreciation for the fans and help boost interest in the team.

"We want to get more fans in and hopefully get more people to come to our games," said post player Jayme Connors, a senior construction engineering major in her junior year with the team.

The team will play their first exhibition game next Saturday against the Play Mode All-stars, a group of WNBA players and recent graduates who travel to campuses and compete against college teams. The game is at 1 p.m. in the Pyramid.

Saturday's scrimmage was held in the Gold Mine gymnasium in an effort to "honor the tradition of LBSU Women's Basketball," said Head Coach Mary Hegarty. "They played in this gym until the construction of the Pyramid."

Hegarty is in her second year as head coach, before leading the LBSU women's team she coached at Chapman University. Academic All American Melody Bongiorno, now a Cal State Long Beach graduate student, played on Hegarty's team there.

"There was a much larger crowd here today than in the past," she said. "I really think the team is on the rise."

After the game and throughout the cookout that followed, team members were spotted wearing peculiar white bands on their right wrists, forward Cynetha Rush explained that the bands are for motivation, "it's a team thing," she said.

The bands, which feature the slogan "Get After It," a favorite of Hegarty's, on one side and the number 128 on the other are meant to motivate both the fans and the team. They are worn at all times, day and night, while sleeping and even in the shower.

The only time they are prohibited is during games, this is primarily for safety reasons but the team is working on incorporating them into their uniforms, and for the time being they put them around their water bottles while they are on the court.

The bands are not only for team members, they are meant to be an extension of LBSU pride, "they are for anyone who wishes to be a part of our prosperous and extremely hard working team," Rush said. "It takes more than 15 players to be successful."