Women's hoops ends abruptly with loss

UC Irvine shattered Cal State Long Beach women's basketball team's desire to advance to the championship round of the Big West Conference tournament Thursday in Reno, Nev.

CSULB was eliminated, 57-50, by the Anteaters in the semifinals. The 49ers beat UC Irvine twice in the regular season, but were not able to withstand a second-half comeback rally by the Anteaters.

CSULB lead the entire first half and ended the half ahead by six points. Yet, the end was soon to come. The Anteaters took over early in the second half, when the 49ers went five minutes without scoring. It was downhill from there. In that same period, the Anteaters scored exactly six points to tie the game and the 49ers were not able to turn the game around.

UC Irvine advanced to the championship to face UC Santa Barbara. They were defeated 81-66. Teammates Toby Metoyer and Kesha Wade were selected to the All-Big West Conference team. Metoyer, a 6-2 center from Lakewood, Calif., was selected to the women's basketball second-team. She was sixth in the conference in scoring (16.9) and rebounding (7.9).

The 49ers led the league in steals (12.2), primarily with the assistance of Kesha Wade. She was second in the conference with 3.1 steals. Wade was also ninth in conference scoring (14.5).

Senior guard Aimee Periolat was named Big West Scholar-Athlete of the year.