49ers Turn Tide Against Trojans, 74-62

Years of frustration and futility against the USC women’s basketball team were eased with an emphatic 74-62 victory by Long Beach State on Saturday before 931 at the Pyramid.

It was the first time the 49ers beat the Trojans since the 1991-92 season, a stretch of five games, most of them lopsided contests. Sophomore forward Jackie Moore came off the bench and had a career-high 15 points in 18 minutes. Leading the 49ers (3-2) was junior center Rhonda Smith with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The Trojans (3-3) had three players in double figures--senior center Adrain Williams (16 points, 11 rebounds), freshman guard Tiffany Elmore (15) and senior guard Kristin Clark (13).

Certainly, the victory was significant for the 49ers because of the past losses to the Trojans.

“Yeah,” said Long Beach Coach Dallas Boychuk, laughing. “We went there last year and they beat us pretty bad and the players came in and they were confident. We really wanted it. That’s something their coach [USC’s Chris Gobrecht] told me after the game, that we just wanted it more.”

Said Gobrecht: “We’re not going to physically overpower anybody [as in previous years]. That’s not Tina Thompson and Michelle Campbell out there. Those aren’t the bodies of Lisa Leslie. We need to work our backsides off too. When we do, we’re pretty good. But certainly we cannot just show up and play. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is.”