Panthers hold off 49ers, 64-62

Hoops • Petra Glaser scored a career-high 27 points in the 49ers 88-82 win against Stony Brook Sunday in New York. Jon Cook/Online Forty-Niner

 

By Michael Bower
Online Forty-Niner
Sports Editor

The Long Beach State women's basketball team was looking to improve their record to 3-0 Friday but ran into a tough Pittsburgh team at the Holiday Inn Classic in New York.

The 49ers (3-1) came back twice from double-digit deficits and was within one point of the Panthers with 9.1 seconds to go, but Pittsburgh converted 6-of-10 free throws down the stretch to hold off the 49ers, 64-62.

"Obviously I'm disappointed that we lost," second-year Head Coach Mary Hegarty said. "We didn't stick to our system for 40 minutes. We had some defensive lapses and were not able to bounce back. It was an up hill battle mostly because of our mistakes."

The 49ers made the score 56-53 with 3:02 left in the game and had a chance to win it with 9.1 seconds to go as Petra Glaser's layup closed gap to 60-61. The Beach then fouled Pittsburgh's Katie Histed who sunk both free throws to put the game away.

Histed had 17 points on the game for the Panthers, while Cheron Taylor had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Junior Center Jayme Connors had two chances to bring the 49ers even closer in the game, but she missed two free throws with under a minute to go. The first miss came with 56 seconds left and the score 60-56 and the second with 24 seconds left and the score 61-58.

The Panthers built a 47-32 lead with an 18-7 run in the opening nine minutes of the second half. The 49ers were able to convert for just six points over the first 12 minutes of play in the first half and just seven over the first nine minutes of the second half.

The 49ers did charge back in the second half by erasing a 15-point deficit with a 20-8 run, but the team committed 19 turnovers and shot just 35 percent in the game. Junior guard Crystal McCutheon, who is averaging 17.7 points per game in the early season, led the 49ers with 19 points, while Connors chipped in with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

"Crystal's play resembles her play during practice," Hegarty said. "She is our most consistent player out there, and hardest worker, so her early season success makes sense. She could be even more aggressive out there, especially on the offensive end."

The Panthers almost ran away with the game in first half as the 49ers missed 13 of their first 15 shots. But the Beach went on a 15-8 run over the final eight minutes to close the gap to 29-25. It was McCutheon bringing the 49ers back in the first half as she scored on a breakaway layup to make the score 24-15 with 3:08 remaining in the first half. She then knocked down four free throws over the final two minutes.

Glaser scored a career-high 27 points on 12-of-15 shooting to lead the 49ers over Stony Brook 88-82 on Sunday in the final game of the Holiday Inn Classic. Connors added a double-double as she had 18 points and 13 rebounds.

The women's basketball team will be back in action on Thursday when they travel to Northern California to take on the University of San Francisco at 7 p.m.