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We kick off RIvalry Thursday in the ‘Myd as Long Beach State women’s basketball plays host to CSU Fullerton in the matinee. LBSU is trying to improve to 2-0 in Big West play…
Scouting Fullerton
The Titans are 6-8 and off to a 2-0 start in Big West Conference action for the second year in a row as they defeated UC Davis (68-57) and Pacific (82-65) at home. Megan Richardson leads the Titans with 15.5 points per game. Lyndsey Grove (14.8 ppg) and Jasmine Scott (10.6 ppg) are also averaging double figures, while Jenna Breite is tops on the team with 7.0 rebounds per outing.
STARTING FIVE
LBSU
Karina Figueroa, Lauren Sims, Ashley Bookman, Ally Wade, Tipesa Moorer
Fullerton
Jasmine Scott, Britt Peters, Megan Richardson, Lyndsey Grove, Jenna Breite
FIRST HALF
LB wins the tip
18:46
The 49ers set the tone in the paint and Bookman and Sims score, and Figueroa drives the lane for a layup after a turnover. 6-0 LB
16:16
Fig with the left handed runner as the shot clock expires! 10-2 LB
13:00
LB offense slows down with three consecutive turnovers, Fullerton offense slows down against the 49er 2-3 zone defense. Brett Timmons and Wade in the paint, again. 14-2 LB
11:30
Timeout on the floor after Richardson finds Breite on the backdoor for the easy layup, and Timmons goes to work in the post for two more. 17-7 LB
10:00
Fullerton head coach Marcia Foster brings in 6’1″ forward Mya Olivier to try and stem the tide in the paint, but that’s not going to stop Figueroa from the outside as she nails the fall away jumper for three. Next trip down, she drops her game-high ninth point on a stop-pop at the elbow. 24-7 LB
7:46
Timeout on the floor. 24-9 LB Sure, Long Beach and Figueroa are hot from the field (11-for-15 FG) but the zone defense is active and stifling. After a traveling violation that’s already 7 turnovers for Fullerton.
4:00
Fullerton answers with energy, a turnover, and the first three pointer from Peters. 26-16
2:47
Timeout on the floor. Fullerton looks like they finally settled down and they’re running the floor. Fall away layup for Jaslyn Cody, 26-18 LB
1:00
Scott get the rebound and the bucket, Moorer answers with the jumper. 28-23 LB
HALFTIME: Long Beach State 28, Fullerton 24
The 49ers were lights out in the first 10 minutes of the first half, opening up a 17 point lead. But Fullerton responded with tough play on the defensive end, slowed the Long Beach post attack (no pun) and Peters finally got a few shots to drop. The Titans ended the half on a 15-4 run. Long Beach scored four points in the last 9:28.
Key Stats:
Leading Scorer- Figueroa, 9pts, 4-for-7 FG
Rebounds- 21-to-18 Fullerton, 10-to-3 offensive rebounds
Turnovers- LB 8, CSF 6
Fullerton is 28% from the field, 1-for-8 from behind the arc
SECOND HALF
LB opens with possession…
17:00
Peters and Moorer trade jumpers again. 33-28 LB By the way, Megan Richardson has only four points tonight, but her presence is being felt on the defensive side. Lauren Sims is averaging 14 ppg this season, but with Richardson absolutely in her jersey, Simms only has only one shot and zero points.
15:00
Melanie Lisnock beats the Titans down the floor for the layup after Richardson get the jumper. 35-30 LB
14:20
Richardson with a three! 35-33 LB
12:00
LaTorya Barbee with her first points of the game. Grove with a three! 39-38 LB
11:00
Remember when I told you Olivier came in to stop the 49er post attack? That was at the 10 minute mark in the first half when this game changed. And wouldn’t you know it, Mya gives Fullerton their first lead of the game with a nice move off the block. 40-39 Fullerton
9:00
Peters puts the Titans on her back. A nice crossover and step-back jumper is followed by a layup in transition off a nice pass from Scott. 46-41 Fullerton
8:36
Figueroa takes it to the tin and draws the foul, but misses both free throws. Peters comes back and nails a three. That’s seven straight points for the junior from Centennial. 49-41 Fullerton
7:19
Timeout on the floor after Lisnock hits the first 49er three in the second half– only the second of the game for the home team. 51-46 Fullerton
6:20
Richardson for three, and the Titans are 4-for-6 from behind the arc in the second half. 54-48 Titans
5:00
Sims with a jumper. She needed that. The Beach needed that. 54-50 Fullerton
4:03
Wade gets the offensive rebound! Who knew!?! She finds Lisnock in the corner for three! 56-53 Fullerton
3:00
Sims misses a three with Richardson in her face, and Scott hits a jumper on the other end. 58-53 Fullerton
1:39
Figueroa, still scoreless in the second half, goes to the lane with the left hand and doesn’t get the call. Two Fullerton free throws, 60-53
1:15
Figueroa for three from the top of the key, then she draws the charge on Scott as she tried to get it over the timeline. 60-56 Fullerton
50.6
Barbee to the line, but misses the front end on the 1-and-1. Foul on Lisnock going for the rebound. Grove makes both of hers. 62-56 Fullerton
32.4
Wade misses a jumper, Scott makes two more free throws 64-56. Barbee comes down the other end and misses a layup. That makes 13 misses in the paint for Long Beach in the second half.
FINAL
Fullerton 67, Long Beach 60
Thanks for reading and commenting everyone, it felt good to be back on press row.
You can talk about the hot start for Long Beach, or the rebound discrepancy (44-to-38) or the three point shooting (LBSU: 4-for-15, CSUF: 5-for-17 and 4-for-9 in the second half) but the bottom line is that with as even as most of the stats were at the end of the game, the difference was shot quality, and who took them.
Fullerton was able to pick up the tempo and run the floor, while Long Beach struggled to make the bunny lay ups down the stretch. As for who took them, Fullerton’s Megan Richardson went into halftime with four points and she came out of the game as the top scorer with 15. She just kept shooting. At the other end, two jumpers at the 14 minute mark in the second half gave Tipesa Moorer a team-high 12 points. From that point on she played one more minute and didn’t take another shot.
There is something to be said for sticktoitiveness, and today the Titans had a lot of it.
POST GAME QUOTES
Long Beach coach Jody Wynn: “We got out-toughed… We got complacent, they turned it up a notch, and we couldn’t keep up.”
“I don’t know what the deal is with that bucket on that side (the second game in a row the 49ers struggled on the west end) but when the ball isn’t falling it’s easy to hang your head, and the defense suffers. The defense suffered.”
“We haven’t beat a team off the boards all year, and its gonna be a long season if we can’t.”
On Moorer’s second half time, “No reason at all. We needed to get others involved. She fatigues.”
Tipesa Moorer: “Yeah, I get tired, but we needed to shoot better, and that’s why (Figueroa and Sims) are in there. That’s what they do… more important is that we didn’t play defense… they picked it up and we didn’t respond.”
Fullerton coach Marcia Foster: “That’s a good team and coach Wynn is doing a fantastic job, but we knew they couldn’t stay hot like that all game… they came out and played with some bounce, but we adjusted to all the zone looks they gave us, and the shots started to fall.”
On Britt Peters’ seven straight points in the second half, “I looked around and realized we didn’t have a point guard in there, so I grabbed Britt, and she got in there and took good shots… every player knows they have the green light if they’re good shots, and Britt picked us up.”
Fullerton guard Megan Richardson: “We hung with it and on this team it isn’t about one player, everyone can score. They tried to concentrate on one player and you can’t do that to us. They couldn’t have played much better in the first half, and we couldn’t have shot much worse, but at halftime we’re only down four, so…”
On the Titan 3-0 start in the Big West, “I’m not surprised… we’ve got a chip on our shoulder and we’re tough.”
LONG BEACH WILL BE IN THE ‘MYD AGAIN ON SATURDAY TO TAKE ON UC IRVINE