NCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : CS Long Beach’s Difficult Journey Begins With Cal
Unhappy her team was seeded sixth in the NCAA West Regional, Coach Joan Bonvicini of the Cal State Long Beach women’s basketball team said, “You don’t get mad, you get even.”
The 14th-ranked 49ers will get that chance tonight at 7:30 in a first-round game against California.
“I want to play some patsies. . . . What good is it to play a (tough regular-season) schedule if it doesn’t mean anything at the end?” Bonvicini asked after learning Long Beach (24-8) had been placed in the West Regional with second-ranked Stanford and fifth-ranked Nevada Las Vegas.
If the 49ers beat Cal (17-11) tonight, they travel to Nacogdoches, Tex., for a game against No. 6-ranked Stephen F. Austin (27-2).
Stephen F. Austin is one of the top four seeded teams in the regional. Also getting first-round byes were Stanford (27-1), Georgia (25-4) and Nevada Las Vegas (28-2).
Cal, seeded 11th in the West, finished 9-9 in the Pacific 10 Conference and is making its first NCAA tournament appearance. The Bears will be relying on junior Teresa Palmisano, who is averaging 13 points and seven rebounds a game, and junior guard Laura Baker, averaging 11.8 points a game.
Long Beach’s only senior, Angelique Lee, has averaged 17 points and 13.9 rebounds in her last 10 games.
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