TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1999

Gauchos deal 49ers defeat

By John Putman

On-Line Forty-Niner

For a brief period early in the second half of Friday night's game against UC Santa Barbara, it looked like the 49er women's basketball team was going to upset the nationally-ranked Gauchos. Leading, 51-46, with just over 13 minutes remaining, the 49ers' cohesive play suddenly evaporated, and the Gauchos capitalized by outscoring the Beach 21-2 over the next five minutes to take 67-53 lead.

The 22nd ranked Gauchos (18-3, 10-0 in the Big West) went on to hand the 49ers (12-9, 6-4) their first home loss of the season, 83-71, before 1,091 fans, including a boisterous contingent from Santa Barbara.

Dejected 49er head coach Dallas Boychuk was at a loss to explain her team's performance.

"They're a good team, but we haven't played our best basketball against them. It's frustrating that we really didn't play our normal home game. Normally we come in here and were very confident," she said.

The 49ers seemed to lose patience against an aggressive Gaucho defense that denied them their outside game. Reta Sula, who scored 23 points on seven of nine three-point shots in last week's game against the Gauchos, had few good looks at the basket and scored just two points on one of six shooting.

Long Beach State tried to compensate by forcing dangerous passes inside, and ended up turning the ball over 27 times. Sula and Kesha Wade had 18 turnovers between them.

"We just didn't take care of the basketball," Boychuk said.

Until their collapse in the second half, the 49ers were effective scoring inside, keeping stride with the Gauchos fluid double post offense.

Rhonda Smith, with 16 points, Charel Bailey, with 13 and Jackie Moore, with 13, all scored in double figures, with most of their points coming inside.

"We not only wanted to win, but we wanted to win big. They gave us a good fight and they work hard. They're a good team," said Buescher, who finished with a personal best 35 points.

The 49ers will next play UC Irvine on the road at 7 p.m. on Friday.