Beach Review: Nov. 16 – 22

Dan Monson and his men’s basketball team go 2-1 on the road this week.

11/17 – Long Beach State vs Pepperdine: Box Score

After struggling to put away their opponent in the first half, Long Beach State used a couple of highlight reel runs to separate themselves from the Pepperdine Waves in their 67-58 victory.

Larry Anderson had a huge second half scoring 15 points, grabbing five rebounds, dishing out four assists, while grabbing three steals.

T.J. Robinson also had an outstanding night recording his second consecutive double double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Pepperdine was led by Keion Bell who finished with 21 points and grabbing 6 rebounds.

11/19 – Long Beach State vs Notre Dame: Box Score

After a very competitive first half, Notre Dame used two second half runs to put away the young 49ers 82-62.  The game ending 20 point differential was not indicative of the game as the 49ers were within striking distance for the majority of the contest.

Long Beach State was led again by Larry Anderson’s 20 points, but he scored just four in the second half.  The team also received strong performances from T.J. Robinson (16 points), Greg Plater (11 points), and Eugene Phelps (18 rebounds).

Notre Dame was led by All-American Luke Harangody’s double-double, scoring 29 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

11/21 – Long Beach State vs Green Bay: Box Score

Stephan Gilling scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half setting the stage for Long Beach State’s 81-68 victory over Green Bay.

Both sophomores, Larry Anderson and Eugene Phelps, had monster second halves keeping the Phoenix at bay.  Anderson finished with 17 points and 4 steals, while Phelps had 15 points and 8 rebounds.

Green Bay was led by two players in double figures: Randy Berry and Troy Cotton had 16 points apiece.

The Long Beach State women’s basketball team ends the week with a win after losing two.

Women’s basketball split on the road after losing one at home earlier in the week.

11/16 – Loyola Marymount vs Long Beach State: Box Score, Pictorial

The Long Beach State women’s basketball team was unable to complete a late game rally falling to Loyola Marymount at home 75-70.

Seniors Karina Figueroa (21 pts) and Lauren Sims (14 pts) led The Beach (1-1) in scoring, while Alley Wade controlled the boards recording 8 rebounds.

Loyola Marymount (1-1) was led by two players scoring 14 points apiece: Renahy Young and Alex Cowling.

11/20 – Long Beach State vs New Mexico State: Box Score

Long Beach State (1-2) committed a season high 29 turnovers, while shooting 32 percent, in their 69-56 loss to the New Mexico State Aggies.

Karina Figueroa led the 49ers (1-2) with 20 points, while fellow seniors Ally Wade and Lauren Sims added 16 and 11 respectively. Junior Ashley Bookman also had a fine showing grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds.

New Mexico State’s (2-1) leading scorer was Crystal Boyd who netted 17 points.

11/20 – Long Beach State vs Texas-Pan America: Box Score

After a very competitive first half, the Long Beach State women’s basketball team blitzed Texas-Pan America on their way to a lopsided 79-56 victory.

Senior Ally Wade led the 49ers (2-2) with 22 points going 7-for-10, while fellow seniors Lauren Sims and Brett Timmons scored 14 and 13 respectively.

This was the first road victory for the team this season and newly hired head coach Jody Wynn.  The team’s last road victory came against UCI on February 26, 2009.

Texas-Pan American (0-3) was led by Rachel Hester’s 14 points.

The women’s volleyball team clinches the Big West Conference title after ending the week 2-0.

11/20 – UC Riverside vs Long Beach State: Box Score

Long Beach State entered this match needing two wins to secure their second straight conference championship, and looking past UCR could have proven costly.

Behind strong performances from Jocelyn Neely(.318) and Naomi Washington (11 kills), the Long Beach State 49ers put UCR away in 3, setting up a showdown with UCI for the Big West Conference title.

UCR was led by Kelly Quinn’s 8 kills and her 3 block assists.

11/21 – UCI vs Long Beach State: Box Score

After a see saw battle, and after trailing 4-1 in the decisive 5th set, the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team pulls off the win and secures the Big West Conference championship and its automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

From a statistics point of view, Naomi Washington was the difference maker putting down 5 kills in the decisive set; however, a key defensive play might have actually been the back breaker.

Trailing 6-5 in the 5th, Libby Fontanilla and Lauren Minkel combined for three spectacular digs that led to winning the point and changing the game’s momentum.

UCI was led by Juliane Piggott’s 27 kills and 15 digs, followed by Kari Pestolesi’s 20 kills and 21 digs.

Men’s water polo season ends with a 9-8 loss at Pacific.

11/21 – Long Beach State vs Pacific

The 2009 season came to an end as the nationally ranked (6th) Long Beach State men’s water polo team dropped a 9-8 decision to the Pacific Tigers.  The 49ers needed to win Saturday to secure a spot in the MPSF tournament if they had any hopes of  making the NCAA tournament. The 49ers finish the 2009 campaign at 9-12 overall and 1-7 in MPSF play.

LBSU was up 8-5 in the third quarter before Pacific scored four unanswered goals.