Spring Soccer
The LBSU women’s soccer team ties SDSU 1-1 in a spring match held in Temecula.
Images found at: Ballin’ at Da Beach – Flickr – Facebook
The Long Beach State women’s soccer team traveled to Temecula to take on the Aztecs from San Diego State. Both teams were aggressive and played a very physical style in a match that ended in a 1-1 tie.
The Aztecs controlled the ball early leading to a goal midway through the first half. The 49ers were able to tie the match with a goal late in the second half. LBSU had multiple opportunities to put the ball in the back of the net during the final 5 minutes, but the SDSU’s goalie made some incredible saves to persevere the tie.
The Beach are now two-thirds the way through their spring schedule that concludes with a home match on April 17th against an alumni team.
Feb 21 vs Northridge (2-0 win)
Feb 21 vs Pepperdine (1-1 tie)
Mar 5 vs Azusa Pacific (2-0 win)
Mar 21 vs SDSU (1-1 tie)
Mar 27 vs USC at Univ of SD (time tba)
April 16 vs LMU at George Allen (4pm)
April 17 Alumni (12noon)
Long Beach State Women’s Tennis
The Long Beach State women’s tennis team starts the new season looking for their seventh consecutive Big West title. After watching the following slideshow you will see that there are plenty of new faces on this year’s team. Go Beach!
WBB Recruit: Brandi Henton
Coach Wynn and the basketball program signed guard Brandi Henton from Modesto Christian High School during the fall signing period. Included below are her current statistics and a highlight video which clearly reveals why this terrific guard was signed.
Game statistics: MaxPreps – Points/Game 19.6; Assists/Game 3.0; Blocks/Game .3; Rebounds/Game 6.6; and Steals/Game 3.3.
What HoopGurlz had to say: On the Trail – Brandi Henton, a 5-foot-7 combo guard from Modesto, Calif., told ESPN HoopGurlz that she has given her verbal commitment to Long Beach State and first year head coach Jody Wynn.
Henton said she considered several other programs including Boise State, Cal State-Fullerton and Nevada.
A huge Laker and Kobe Bryant fan, she said plans on getting to some games live and she’s always wanted to live in Los Angeles. The coaching staff was also a major factor.
Henton made her official visit in early September and got to meet and play with the team in their open gym.
“It was really good,” Henton said. “I felt like I fit right in.”
Highlight Video from Sports Force:
WBB Recruit: Alex Sanchez
Coach Wynn and the Long Beach State women’s basketball program just received a verbal commitment from guard Alex Sanchez from Troy High School. Sanchez also played for Cal Swish one of the premier clubs teams this past summer. This combination, Troy High School and Cal Swish, happens to be the same as redshirt guard’s Amanda Sims.
Game statistics: MaxPreps – Points/Game 14.8; Assists/Game 5.5; Blocks/Game .5; Rebounds/Game 6.8; and Steals/Game 3.4.
What HoopGurlz had to say: On the Trail – Alex Sanchez, the 5-foot-10 wing from Anaheim, Calif., told ESPN HoopGurlz she has verbally committed to Long Beach State University. The Troy High School senior played her club basketball with the Cal Swish.
Sanchez is the fourth commitment in LBSU’s first recruiting class under head coach Jody Wynn. She joins fall signees Janae Coffee, a 6-3 post; Brandi Henton, a 5-7 point guard; and Chantel Dooley, a 5-7 point guard.
HoopGurlz Evaluation (Grade 88): Alex Sanchez may not stand out on a loaded Cal Swish team but she does fit in. At 5 feet 10 she has the size and length to play either guard or wing at the college level. She can shoot the ball out to the 3-point line and can play within a system with adequate handle and nice passing skills, both seeing the pass and delivering with touch.
Woodbridge vs Troy 2009-10 post game video (OC Register):
Etiwanda vs Troy 2008-09 post game video (OC Register):
Big West Player of the Week: Casper Ware
From Long Beach State reports
Ware is fourth different LBSU player to earn award in six weeks
Sophomore Casper Ware is the latest Long Beach State player to earn Big West Conference Player of the Week honors. Ware grabbed the weekly award after leading The Beach past Utah State 75-62 last Friday at the Walter Pyramid.
Ware (Cerritos, Calif./Gahr HS) scored 19 points, just two off his career high, and handed out seven assists against WAC favorite Utah State to help LBSU move to 6-4 on the season and 3-0 at home. Ware also flustered WAC Preseason Player of the Year Jared Quayle into a 2-for-11 shooting night. Ware ran his double-digit scoring streak to a career-best five games. During that five-game span, Ware has averaged 15.2 points and 7.2 assists per game, with a 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Ware is the fourth different Long Beach State player to earn the conference honor in the six weeks it has been awarded. Sophomore Larry Anderson shared the award with UC Davis’ Joe Harden the first week after leading The Beach to a season-opening win over Alaska Anchorage. Sophomore T.J. Robinson claimed the honor on Nov. 30 after being named to the 76 Classic All-Tournament Team over Thanksgiving weekend. Last week, senior Stephan Gilling was tabbed as player of the week after making 14 threes in two games, including and LBSU-record eight against Cal State Monterey Bay.
Beach Review: Nov 30 -Dec 6
Season ends for women’s volleyball in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament
12/4 – Long Beach State vs UCLA: Box Score
The NCAA selection committee pitted the Long Beach State 49ers against the UCLA Bruins even though both teams had faced each other earlier in the season, a 3-0 Beach victory.
This time around the Bruins were more focused and determined to come out on top and swept the young ladies from The Beach 20, 20, 16.
In the loss, LBSU hit for a meager .178 and did not have a front court player hit over .200. The team was led in kills by Naomi Washington (9) and Caitlin Ledoux (8). Back row specialist, Libby Fontanilla, had the highest hitting percentage at .333 but with only 6 attempts (2 kills).
The Bruin’s hit .290 as a team and were led by two players with 12 kills apiece, Sather and McGraw.
Even though the team’s season ended earlier then expected, the Long Beach State 49ers once again surpassed the 20 wins mark with a record of 22-9, and reached the NCAA tournament for the 23rd consecutive time.
Women’s basketball plays tough but ends the week 0-2 against the Pac-10
12/3 – USC vs Long Beach State: Box Score, Write-up 
In a very emotional and spirited game, Long Beach State’s second half rally comes up just short in their 83-77 loss to USC.
Figueroa led Long Beach State (3-4) with a season-best 26 points and a career-high tying 10 assists. Off guard LaTorya Barbee chipped in 15 points on a 6-of-9 shooting, while sharpshooter Lauren Sims scored 14 points. Forward Ashley Bookman led the 49ers on the boards with 9 rebounds.
USC (4-3) had double-double performances from Briana Gilbreath (21 pts, 10 rbs), Hailey Dunham (13, 10), and Ashley Corral (10, 11).
12/6 – Long Beach State vs Oregon: Box Score
Facing their second Pac-10 team in less than a week, but this time on the road, the women’s basketball team from Long Beach State ran into a buzz saw as the lose 102-70 to the Oregon Ducks.
The lopsided loss was due primarily to the deadly combination of Oregon’s hot shooting (52.8%) and LBSU’s inability to hang on to the ball (28 turnovers). Oregon turned this into 33 points which happens to roughly equal their margin of victory.
Lauren Sims led Long Beach State ( 3-5) with 20 points, going 4-for-9 from the 3-point line, while Ally Wade knocked down 15 points and a team-high 7 rebounds.
Oregon (6-1) was led by Micaela Cocks’ 27 points and Amanda Johnson’s 9 rebounds.
Big West Player of the Week: Stephan Gilling
From Long Beach State reports
Senior ties school record with eight 3-pointers
Senior guard Stephan Gilling (Chino Hills, Calif.) has been named the Big West Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday afternoon.
Gilling led Long Beach State to a 96-61 rout of Cal State Monterey Bay on 
Saturday (Dec. 12) as he netted a career-high 28 points, 25 of which came in the first half. He finished 10-of-17 from the field and tied a 49er single-game record with eight 3-pointers.
Earlier in the week, Gilling poured in a team-high 18 points in a loss at No. 2 Texas. He accounted for all of his points on six threes.
For the week, Gilling averaged 23.0 points per game and shot 53.8 percent (14-of-26) from the field. He currently leads the Big West in 3-pointers made (34) and 3-pointers made per game (3.8).
It is the first career weekly award for Gilling and third for The Beach this season.
The 49ers return to action on Friday, Dec. 18, when they welcome Utah State to the Walter Pyramid for a 7 p.m. non-conference showdown.
W-Basketball: Late run not enough as LBSU loses to USC
Game Summary: Box Score
In a game that pitted the new against the old, Long Beach State’s women’s basketball head coach Jody Wynn, former player and assistant coach of the visiting team, guided her team to a near upset of the heavly favored USC Trojans, losing 83-77 in a game that was not decided until the final seconds.
Based upon this unique scenario, and the fact that the visiting team was also a local Pac-10 team, there was a buzz in the stands and an energy level on the court that has not been seen in the last two or three years.
Feeding off this energy, Karina Figueroa led the determined 49ers down the stretch with clutch three point plays, dazzling passes, and acrobatic drives down the lane - but more importantly, the team put the clamps down on defense not allowing the wide open jumpers that USC (4-3) used to build a 20 point lead early in the 2nd half.
However, USC hit enough shots and made their free throws down the stretch to hold off the surgering 49ers.
Figueroa led Long Beach State (3-4) with a season-best 26 points and a career-high tying 10 assists. Off guard LaTorya Barbee chipped in 15 points on a 6-of-9 shooting, while sharpshooter Lauren Sims scored 14 points. Forward Ashley Bookman led the 49ers on the boards with 9 rebounds.
USC had double-double performances from Briana Gilbreath (21 pts, 10 rbs), Hailey Dunham (13, 10), and Ashley Corral (10, 11).
Long Beach State now goes on the road to face another Pac-10 foe in the University of Oregon. The Ducks are guided by first year head coach Paul Westhead who has coach both men and women at the college and professional levels.
Quotes from the game:
LBSU’s head coach Jody Wynn
“I think we definitely showed our heart and our toughness. We have four losses, but every game we’ve finished with toughness and we’ve finished with heart. And that’s great.”
“They killed us on the offensive boards. You’re not going to win too many games when people double you up on the o-boards.”
“I’m not into moral victories but I’ll take that one.”
LBSU’s point guard Karina Figueroa
“We played our hearts out…I don’t know how else to put it.”
“As a team, we’re growing. This was a good challenge. I think we got the moral victory, I think we did a lot of productive things. We attacked the basket, we made open shots. We missed key rebounds in key possessions, but things happen.”
LBSU’s guard Latoya Barbee
“Nobody expected us to come out and play hard and we did. We never gave up, it was a loss but we don’t feel too bad, we could’ve beat them.”
“We showed heart and toughness. If you keep fighting like that, eventually you win those.”
USC’s head coach Michael Cooper
“I’ll tell you what, that young lady Figueroa is definitely a WNBA player. She keeps you on your toes.”
Images from the game:
Long Beach State's Ashley Bookman drives hard to the basket during the first half scoring the basket
Long Beach State's Ally Wade battles Christina Marinacci of USC for a rebound
LBSU's Karina Figueroa pushes the battle down the court during the first half
Big West Player of the Week: Ashley Lee
From Long Beach State reports
Long Beach State’s junior setter wins the award for the first time.
Junior setter Ashley Lee was named the Big West Player of the Week for Nov. 30, completing a stretch that has seen three different 49ers win the award in the last three weeks, joining Naomi Washington and Caitlin Ledoux. All three were earlier named first-team All-Big West.
Lee handed out 182 assists over four matches, averaging 11.38 per set as the 49ers went 3-1 at the Mizuno Thanksgiving Classic. Along with assists, Lee also helped with the offense in points, making nine aces and 21 kills over the four matches.
Against TCU to start the weekend, Lee made five kills, 11 digs and 51 assists in a four-set loss to the NCAA-Tournament bound Horned Frogs, and then guided an offense featuring four new players toa a four-set win over UNLV with a career-high four aces and .364 hitting.
On the second day of the tournament, Lee hit .385 with 28 assists and 14 digs in a sweep of LMU, and then closed out the tournament by hitting .417 with five kills while setting 54 assists and making 14 digs in a win over Utah.
In all, Lee had a double-double in all four matches of the weekend and led Long Beach State in hitting percentage at .362.
The award is the first for Lee in her career, and the fourth for Long Beach State this season. Caitlin Ledoux won the award two weeks ago, and Nomi Washington was last week’s winner. Washington also won on Sept. 14 after an All-Tournament performance at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Classic.
Big West Player of the Week: TJ Robinson
From Long Beach State reports
Sophomore averages a double-double in 76 Classic
Sophomore T.J. Robinson has been named the Big West Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week after leading the 76 Classic in scoring and rebounding. Robinson, who also was named to the 76 Classic All-Tournament Team, won the Big West honor for the second time in his career.
Robinson (West Haven, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral HS) averaged a tournament-high 20.0 points and 12.3 rebound per game as Long Beach State beat UCLA for the first time in school history, while also losing to No. 8 West Virginia and No. 19 Clemson. Robinson also led the tournament field in field goal attempts (12.7 per game), field goals made (7.7 per game), free throws made (3.7 per game), defensive rebounds (8.7 per game) and minutes (35.7 per game), while also ranking second in offensive rebounds (3.7 per game) and free throw attempts (8.3 per game).
Robinson put together back-to-back double-doubles on the second and third days of the tournament. Against Clemson, he finished with career highs in points (25) and rebounds (15), while making 9-of-13 shots. In the win over UCLA, Robinson matched his career high with 25 points, while grabbing 13 rebounds. He made 10-of-19 shots in the win. Robinson just missed three double-doubles in the tournament, finishing with 10 points (4-of-6 shooting) and nine rebounds in the opener against West Virginia.
Robinson’s player of the week honor was the second in three weeks for a Long Beach State player. Sophomore Larry Anderson won his first player of the week honor after The Beach beat Alaska Anchorage in the 49ers’ season opener. Robinson’s first career player of the week honor came as a freshman during Big West Conference play.
