Long Beach Stopped by Santa Barbara
UC Santa Barbara continued its domination of the Big West Conference tournament Saturday at Reno.
The ninth-ranked Gauchos won their fourth consecutive championship and their sixth in nine seasons with a 79-69 victory over Long Beach State in front of 1,740 in Nevada’s Lawlor Center. The victory extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 26.
It marked the second consecutive season Santa Barbara (30-3) has gone unbeaten against Big West teams.
Senior point guard Stacy Clinesmith, the tournament’s most valuable player, led the way for Santa Barbara with a career-high 36 points. She made seven of 11 three-point shots and nine of 10 free throws.
“Clinesmith really stepped it up,” Long Beach Coach Dallas Boychuk-Bolla said. “She was 0 for 6 on threes in the semifinal, but she really drained those today.”
Santa Barbara Coach Mark French said he hopes the victory will give his team an opportunity to be a host in the NCAA tournament.
Long Beach (20-10) appears to be in line for a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. “The NIT has been talking to us for the last couple of weeks,” Boychuk-Bolla said. “We want to keep playing. It’s been a while since our program has been to a national tournament, so we want to take it to the next level.”
Kesha Wade scored 16 points and Rhonda Smith 15 for the 49ers, but Long Beach had no one to stop Clinesmith, who scored 22 in the first half.
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