This year, the road warrior 49ers of the Long Beach State women’s basketball team will be joining the millions of Americans making a mad dash across the country prior to Thanksgiving, as they’ll be hopping on a plane Wednesday afternoon, and making a long trip to Florida.  It is, by definition, a business trip, since they’re flying there to compete in the University of Miami’s Thanksgiving Tournament—but after practicing on Thursday, the program will have dinner together as a team, as the coaches, players, and some players’ parents, will sit down to a pre-game feast.

For dessert, they’re hoping for an upset—Friday, the 2-2 49ers play the undefeated host Hurricanes at 4pm Pacific.  “Yeah…we’ll definitely have our hands full,” coach Jody Wynn said Tuesday evening.  No kidding: the ‘Canes are 5-0, are averaging 85 points a game, and have yet to even have their victory margin pushed to single-digit territory this season.  “They’re so athletic, they’re very versatile, and they have a few big, big scorers—they’re a really good team,” Wynn said.  The biggest goal for Wynn’s team is to limit paint touches, and to slow down the furious Miami tempo.

After that, the 49ers will face either Rice or UMass on Saturday—Rice is still looking for their first win while UMass is 2-2, but Wynn cautions against taking either team lightly, especially as her squad is still trying to find their identity.  “We’re learning a brand new system—everybody has different roles.”  Wynn seems generally happy with her team’s movement towards adjusting to those roles, and her system, but doesn’t seem anywhere near the level she wants her players to be when conference play opens.

“We do praise effort,” she said.  “But sometimes it’s effort combined with performance that gets a win.”

Come back to LBPOSTsports.com over the weekend for how the team is doing on the road, as we track the progress of all the Long Beach holiday games going on!