Long Beach Women Beat San Diego State

The third-ranked Cal State Long Beach women’s basketball team showed 13th-rated San Diego State that there is no substitute for speed as the 49ers ran away with a 105-78 victory before 1,052 fans at Peterson Gym Wednesday night.

Long Beach (11-1) took an 11-4 lead, increased the margin to 52-35 at halftime, and never looked back in winning its Western Collegiate Athletic Assn. opener.

San Diego State fell to 13-4 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

“We’re just very versatile and quick at every position,” 49er Coach Joan Bonvicini said. “We like to fast break off of misses and makes. It’s a very organized transition offense. We were very psyched tonight.”

Guard Jackie White keyed Long Beach’s first-half surge with 20 points.

“The last three or four games, Jackie has been on fire,” Bonvicini said. “We like to tell her to put it up. When she’s on, she just goes crazy.”

White was not the only 49er to go crazy in the first half Wednesday. Long Beach shot 61% from the field in the first half, mostly from close range.

“The refs called a good game, Cal State Long Beach played a good game, and we just watched it,” Aztec Coach Earnest Riggins said. “They just outran us.”

White led the 49ers with 29 points while center Kirsten Cummings added 19. Point guard Roslind Boger contributed 17 points.

“Ros was the big reason our fast break was so good,” Bonvicini said. “She did a great job of controlling our offense.”