With Reports From Long Beach State Sports Information Dept.

Junior catcher Kristen Pocock and junior guard Lauren Sims both won Big West Player of the Week honors for their performances last week.

Pocock (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif./Cal Poly) won co-Big West Field Player of the Week and shares the weekly honor with Kelly Harman of UC Davis.

The Cal Poly transfer led the 49ers to a 2-3 mark against a tough field, which featured three ranked teams, at the Campbell/Cartier Classic in San Diego. She opened the weekend with a pair of walks against No. 8 Stanford, scoring one of LBSU’s three runs in the loss.

In an 8-0 win over Utah State, Pocock connected for a two-run blast, finishing the game 2-for-2 with one walk, two runs scored and a pair of RBI. In the tournament finale, Pocock added a hit and drove in what proved to be the game-winner as she lifted LBSU to a 3-2 victory over host and 24th-ranked San Diego State.  On the weekend, Pocock went 3-for-6 with seven walks, one home run and four RBI. She posted a 1.000 slugging percentage, while reaching base 80 percent of the time.

Sims (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS) garnered Big West Women’s Basketball Player of the Week honors after leading Long Beach State to its first back-to-back victories of the season.

Sims paced the 49ers with her third and fourth consecutive 20-plus scoring games last week. In a 63-50 win over Cal State Northridge, Sims notched her first double-double of the year, and second of her career, with 21 points and 10 rebounds. She was 6-for-11 from the field, while also dishing out three assists.

In non-conference action against Texas Pan American, Sims tied her career best with 22 points after shooting 63.6 percent (7-for-11). She also compiled a career-high tying four helpers and three rebounds in the 78-58 victory.

On the week, Sims posted a 59.1 field goal percentage while firing 6-of-10 from behind the arc. She also averaged 21.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per contest.

This is Sims’ first career weekly award and it is the second of the season for Long Beach State as junior Courtney Jacob earned player-of-the-week honors on Dec. 1, 2008.

Softball will return to San Diego for the USD Tournament from Feb. 20-22. The 49ers open the weekend with a pair of games on Friday as they take on Colorado State (Noon) and Boise State (2 p.m.).

The basketball team will resume Big West Conference action on Friday, Feb. 20, when they welcome UC Riverside to the Walter Pyramid for a 7 p.m. (PST) showdown.