It’s Same Time, Same Goal for Bonvicini : Women’s basketball: Long Beach coach says this is her most rewarding season, but she still strives for elusive national title.

Her success is documented, credentials superior to all but a few of her peers. She has earned the respect of her players and they, for the most part, have served her well.

But Joan Bonvicini, who for 12 seasons has coached the Cal State Long Beach women’s basketball team, has not attained the sport’s highest achievement--the national championship--and she won’t be satisfied until she does.

“She wants it bad, she really wants it bad,” says Glenn McDonald, an assistant coach at Long Beach for the past five years.

Bonvicini won’t deny this, and what coach would?

But she won’t discuss it, either. In fact, she prefers not to even think about it.

“Before, I put too much pressure on myself to be successful,” she says. “The kids can sense when you’re tense, not that you can be relaxed.”

Bonvicini has won 10 conference titles at Long Beach.

Her teams have participated in the tournament every season since the NCAA sponsored the first women’s championship in 1981-82. Only four other teams--Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana Tech and Mississippi--have done that.

But Tennessee Coach Pat Summit has two national championships. Louisiana Tech’s Leon Barmore has one. Bonvicini--whose teams lost in the Final Four semifinals in 1986-87 and 1987-88--is still waiting.

“My goals, personally, are championships,” she acknowledges. “I’m a very, very competitive person. I feel that as a coach I have that quality to take a team to a championship--and I want to fulfill the goals.”

When her team started the season 8-7 and dropped out of the top 25 for the first time ever , Bonvicini was as far from realizing those goals as she had ever been.

“It was very frustrating for her, you could pretty much tell,” senior forward Penny Moore said. “She was adjusting the lineups, trying to find one that works.”

She finally did. The 49ers have run over their past 16 opponents and go into tonight’s (8:37 p.m.) West Regional semifinal against Georgia with a 24-7 record and the longest winning streak in the country.

“Not that we’re looking past anybody, but we’ve come so far and I know right now this is my most rewarding season,” Bonvicini said.

To Bonvicini the coach, maybe. Not to Bonvicini the competitor, who would like nothing more than to jet out of Las Vegas and into New Orleans for another shot at the title.

She has taken a personal approach this season, setting aside time each week to speak with her players one to one.

She has stressed conditioning, and as the season progressed, her team got stronger and wore other teams down.

Cal State Fullerton couldn’t keep up with the 49ers in the Big West Conference tournament final, and USC was overwhelmed by the relentless pace set by Long Beach in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

“We’re lifting weights, we’re riding the bike and we’re in the swimming pool,” Moore said. “(Conditioning trainer George Mehale) was putting us through all the heavy stuff and we were all mad as hell, but now we’re thanking him because we can see ourselves in the best condition right now.”

Moore, hampered by a knee injury for much of the season, has been playing well. She had 19 points and 10 rebounds against USC.

Dana Wilkerson, the other senior on the squad, has improved her outside shot to go with her driving left-handed layups and short jump shots. She leads the 49ers with a 24-point average.

Point guard Trise Jackson can play at full speed for 40 minutes.

Freshmen Danielle Scott and Kellie Bennett have been effective down the stretch, as has junior Kari Parriott.

Whereas the Final Four teams of ’87 and ’88 relied primarily on Cindy Brown and Penny Toler, this season’s club will count on balance, endurance and speed.

“We’re deeper and the kids more than ever pride themselves on their defense,” Bonvicini says. “Our players are extremely confident and focused, but there’s an obstacle in our way and that’s Georgia.”

That’s No. 3-ranked Georgia (27-3), which with inside players Stacey Ford and Tammye Jenkins, and a 51% three-point shooter in Camille Lowe and guard Lady Hardmon, could send the 49ers home from Las Vegas the way most come home--losers.

Bonvicini is well aware of this, and thus she refuses to talk Final Four until it becomes reality.

“We get by (Georgia), we’ll see what happens,” she says. “We’ll take it one step at atime.”