It’s Title Time for the 49er Women

USC women’s basketball Coach Linda Sharp has won two national championships and two Western Collegiate Athletic Assn. titles in her eight years as the Trojan coach, but she has yet to win a game in the Cal State Long Beach gym.

It appeared that Sharp would break the spell Tuesday night as USC led the 49ers for most of the game. But Long Beach came back in the final six minutes to pull out a 64-61 victory in front of a capacity crowd of 2,402.

Reserve guard Margaret Mohr sank two free throws with five seconds left to help the 49ers clinch their fourth WCAA championship in the last five years.

Third-ranked Long Beach, which improved to 12-1 in conference and 25-2 overall, has a 2 1/2-game lead over 11th-ranked USC (9-3, 19-7). The 49ers close the regular season Saturday night at home against Cal State Fullerton, while the Trojans play UCLA Thursday and Stanford Sunday.

For most of the night, it seemed as if USC would have a chance at a share of its third straight conference title. But the Trojans had a defensive lapse at the end and now must defeat UCLA to claim second place.

“We kind of let the game slip through our hands,” Sharp said. “We had five seven-point leads, but it seemed like our defense went to sleep on us in the end. We let them go right through our zone.”

USC was leading, 48-45, with just more than six minutes remaining when Long Beach went on an 8-0 run to take its first lead since the first two minutes of the game.

Mohr, Cindy Brown, Missy Rand and Jackie White each scored to give the 49ers a 53-48 lead, but USC came back moments later on a JaMaiia Bond jumper, a Cheryl Miller free throw and a Miller jump shot to tie it, 55-55, with 3:11 left.

The Trojans again surged ahead, 59-58, on jumpers by Holly Ford and Miller, but Brown’s follow shot off a Mohr miss with 23 seconds left gave the 49ers a 60-59 lead.

Then came the critical moment. Miller drove to the basket and collided with Brown, but the USC forward was called for an offensive foul with 15 seconds left. Brown made both free throws in the bonus situation for a 62-59 lead.

Miller’s jump shot with eight seconds left cut it to one, but Mohr, fouled by Rhonda Windham on the in-bounds pass, was able to hit her foul shots to secure the victory.

“This makes us a much better team and gives us momentum for the playoffs,” Long Beach Coach Joan Bonvicini said. “When you lose a close game, you’re team can fall apart, but this win will get us going. I don’t think I ever wanted to win the conference as bad as I did this year.”

This was the last of the USC-Long Beach conference rivalries. The WCAA will be disbanded after this season, with the Trojans joining the Pacific West Conference and the 49ers joining the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn.

Brown led Long Beach with 24 points, while Kirsten Cummings and White were the only other players in double figures with 14 and 12, respectively. Miller scored a game-high 25 points, which set a Trojan single-season scoring record of 703, but she made only 11 of 30 shots.

Ford added 17, but it was an off-night for the Trojans, who shot just 38% from the floor (27 of 70). Long Beach made 29 of 59 shots for 49%.

The game had been sold out for more than a week, but it took awhile for the 49er fans to get into it. They were quiet for most of the first half until White, coming down on the fast break, split two USC defenders to score on a short jump shot.

The Trojans turned the ball over on their next possession, giving the 49ers a chance at a last shot. Long Beach converted with six seconds left when Brown took a lob pass from Cummings and scored from inside to cut USC’s halftime lead to three, 28-25.

Otherwise, most of the first half belonged to USC. After trading baskets for 10 minutes, the Trojans took control of the game when Windham and Ford each converted three-point plays to give USC a 20-14 lead at the 9:45 mark.

Long Beach managed to cut the deficit to three points on Brown’s free throw and follow shot, but for the next four minutes, the 49ers hardly resembled one of the nation’s best teams.

Long Beach turned the ball over on four straight possessions and fell behind by seven points until White brought the crowd to life with her fast-break basket.