COLLEGE BASKETBALL / BIG WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT : Led by Miller, Fullerton to Take On Long Beach

For the first time in six years, a new team will compete for the Big West Conference women’s tournament championship.

Cal State Fullerton, making its first appearance in the final, will face perennial finalist Cal State Long Beach today at 3 p.m. in the Long Beach Arena.

And if the Titans get past the 49ers, they will take a nine-game winning streak into the NCAA tournament.

Fullerton (24-6), which split two conference games with Long Beach, is led by center Genia Miller, who tops the country in scoring and has played especially well in the tournament.

The 6-foot-3 senior had 29 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high 11 blocked shots in Fullerton’s first-round game against Fresno State.

In Thursday’s semifinal against New Mexico State--which had upset No. 15 Nevada Las Vegas, the defending champion--Miller had 44 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots before being taken out with six minutes left and the game well in hand.

“Genia’s going to score on anybody, whether they like it or not,” Long Beach center Kari Parriott said. “We can slow her down, but we (also) have to focus on what they’ve done on the outside.”

Opponents have concentrated so much on Miller that guard Joey Ray has been left to operate almost unhindered from the perimeter. She scored 22 points against Fresno State and a career-high 29 against New Mexico State.

“Genia Miller’s great, but Joey Ray, she’s unconscious,” Long Beach Coach Joan Bonvicini said.

Long Beach guards Trise Jackson and Dana Wilkerson are quicker than New Mexico State’s. They’ll try to pressure Ray and Michelle Hennessey and make it difficult for them to get the ball inside to Miller.

“Other than that, lot of muscle (on the inside against Miller),” Parriott said.

Long Beach (22-7), who for the last five years has played UNLV for the tournament championship, looked unstoppable in their first-round game against Hawaii, winning by 40 points.

But the 49ers struggled Thursday night against UC Santa Barbara before pulling away in the final minutes for an 82-70 win. Forward Penny Moore was limited to 17 minutes, and five points, because of foul trouble and the bench provided just 14 points in 53 minutes.

“I want to get more production from our bench because I didn’t think we did a good enough job,” Bonvicini said. “But we’ll be ready. We didn’t come here for second place.”