Women Finish on Bittersweet Note

They sneaked into the party just before the door closed. And they figured to make a quick exit but, well, things happen.

Especially in these wacky conference tournaments.

The Long Beach State women’s basketball team, with its losing record, wasn’t supposed to cause anyone problems in the Big West tournament. However, there stood Coach Dallas Boychuk at the podium Wednesday night, explaining how Long Beach pulled off its biggest victory this season.

Long Beach rallied for a 79-69 overtime victory over Nevada, the tournament host, Wednesday night in the first round at the Lawlor Events Center. That Nevada was playing on its home court, and Long Beach is the Big West’s biggest road flop, added significantly to the moment for Boychuk and her charges.

Factor in that Nevada won the Eastern Division title and Long Beach finished fourth in the West, and that was really reason to party. Granted, the Boychuk Era is only two seasons old. But to this point, nothing else has looked as good to 49er fans.

“This was a big win for us,” Boychuk said. “This is very important for our program and what we’re trying to do.”

Although the 49ers did the unexpected by winning the opener, their season ended Thursday night with a 57-50 loss to UC Irvine in the semifinals.

*

Just qualifying for the tournament was a big-time accomplishment for the 49ers (11-17). They were by no means a lock to get in, securing the West’s final spot in the last two weeks of the regular season.

Not that much was expected from Long Beach. As a rookie head coach last season, Boychuk guided the team to a surprising record of 15-13 and 10-8 in the pre-expansion Big West.

Long Beach finished a respectable fifth in the conference after being picked near the bottom in a preseason coaches’ poll. But the three top performers from that team finished their eligibility and Long Beach didn’t have many returning players with experience.

Predictably, it hasn’t been pretty. Long Beach, which started the season 1-5, has endured losing streaks of four and three games and only once has won consecutive games.

The 49ers were 1-10 on the road before their tournament victory over the Wolf Pack. Of the eight teams that qualified for the tournament, only the 49ers were under .500 in conference play at 7-8.

“We knew this [season] was going to be a rebuilding process,” Boychuk said. “We didn’t have a lot of players with a lot of experience. We had a lot of work to do.”

And the 49ers didn’t exactly enter the tournament on an emotional high, losing two of three games. What changed? According to Boychuk, the coaches and players discovered new, inspiring motivational sources.

“As soon as we set foot in Reno, we heard on the radio [and read in a newspaper] how Nevada beat us pretty good [70-55, Feb. 7] the first time we played and how they were without three starters then,” Boychuk said. “We heard on the radio how nobody, on any team, could guard their 6-6 player [Jelena Zrnic].

“Then when we went for our shoot-around [Wednesday], we walked into the gym and they were wearing their [Division] championship T-shirts. That really fired us up and got us going.”

*

Keeping cool: The 49ers put themselves in position to win against the Wolf Pack by sticking together in pressure time.

Trailing, 59-52, with 1:30 to play in regulation, Long Beach outscored Nevada, 9-2, to force overtime. Long Beach then dominated the overtime, outscoring Nevada, 18-8.

*

Freshman sensation: Forward Kesha Wade is one of the Big West’s best freshmen. She showed why again against Nevada.

Wade led Long Beach with 22 points and 14 rebounds--seven on each end. She dominated the game and left her teammates in awe.

“Kesha is awesome,” Metoyer said. “I love playing with her because she doesn’t play like a freshman, she plays like a senior. She has confidence and she does whatever it takes to win. I’m just really glad I got to play with her for a year.”

*

OK, your turn: The men’s basketball team plays New Mexico State in the opening round of the Big West tournament tonight. Tipoff is scheduled for approximately 8:30.

While Long Beach administrators are pleased with the success of the women’s team, the pressure is still on Coach Wayne Morgan and his players. Many Big West coaches said the Aggies are the conference’s best team, and no one wanted to face them at the start of the tournament.

A first-round loss would add to what many 49er players said has already been an extremely disappointing season. Guard Brandon Titus is confident the 49ers will play well.

“We know what we have to do,” Titus said. “We know what we’re capable of. We just have to go out there and do it.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Coming Attractions

Here’s a look at key upcoming games for Long Beach State:

* Men’s basketball tonight against New Mexico State at the Big West tournament, Lawlor Events Center, 8:30 p.m. Mew Mexico State defeated Long Beach, 84-64, Jan. 30 at Las Cruces, N.M.

* Baseball, three-game series at Blair Field against Cal State Fullerton, tonight at 7 and Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.