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Gauchos
continue dominance over LBSU
By
Donovin Matthews
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
Not
since 1994, has the Long Beach State women's
basketball team defeated UC Santa Barbara.
This reality remained unchanged after last
Saturday afternoon's game.
For
the 28th consecutive contest, the 49ers
(19-5, 15-3) came up short against the Gauchos
(19-8, 16-2), this time loosing 64-60 at
the Thunderdome in a close battle that ended
the regular season.
The
Gauchos were sharp from beyond the arc,
shooting eight of 19 for the game. UCSB
also out-rebounded LBSU 41 to 37, which
gave second chances the 49ers could ill
afford.
"I
tell the team there's a lot of things out
of your control," 49ers Head Coach
Mary Hegarty said. "The officiating,
if your shot drops or not, but rebounding
is critical—that's all effort. And
[the Gauchos] got some big-time rebounds
when they needed them, and unfortunately
we didn't."
Erin
O'Bryan, the Gaucho's leading scorer for
the game with 18 points, nailed the first
of her six three pointers with 14:17 to
go, which allowed UCSB to hit the floor
running.
The
Gauchos ran into trouble as their leader,
Kristen Mann picked up her third foul with
more than 10 minutes remaining before intermission.
With this advantage in hand, 49ers guard
Crystal McCutcheon made two consecutive
baskets of her own, giving LBSU a slim 11-10
lead.
LBSU's
lead would be short-lived however, as the
Gauchos went on an 11-2 run topped off by
freshmen center Kat Suderman's three-pointer.
Her shot made the score 32-22 in UCSB's
favor with 3:36 to go. The home team went
into their locker room with 32-26 advantage.
O'Bryan
contined her stellar shooting coming out
of intermission, hitting a third three-pointer
which sparked yet another Gauchos run. All
had not been decided however, as the 49ers
scored 13 unanswered points, to take a 49-47
lead.
The
Gauchos got back into the contest as O'Bryan's
three-pointer placed her team back on top,
52-49.
Guard
Candice Wilson soon scored five consecutive
points, and Crystal McCutcheon's offensive
rebound and put-back put the 49ers down
one, 61-60, with 0:21 remaining.
With
the shot clock off and no timeouts left,
LBSU was forced to send Gauchos guard Mia
Fisher to the free throw line. Fisher would
make three of four from the charity stripe
to seal the victory for the Gauchos.
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