Dec. 21, 2001

Box Score

(San Francisco) - Long Beach State used an overwhelming 53-34 rebound advantage to collect their first victory of the 2001-2002 season, defeating USF 85-77 in non-conference women's basketball action Friday at War Memorial Gym. San Francisco (5-5) led by as many as 16 points in the first half, but faced an energized 49ers (1-6) squad in the second half.

USF took a 43-31 halftime lead to the locker room, but Long Beach State used an 11-2 run in the early going of the final 20 minutes to cut the lead to three, 45-42 on a layup by senior forward Crystal Givens, who finished with a game-high 27 points to go along with 13 rebounds. The Lady Dons fought back and took an eight point lead at 13:13 on a bucket from junior guard Lisa Whiteside to make the score 54-56, but a three-point play by Givens cut the lead to three, 56-53 with 11:27 remaining.

Long Beach State continued to shave the USF lead and took their first lead of the contest at 8:44 on a layup by freshman forward Jayme Connors, who turned in an 11 point, nine rebound performance before fouling out after 31 minutes. The Lady Dons answered and seized a 69-65 lead at the 7:14 mark, but once senior guard Tamara Inoue scored a bucket to give the 49ers a 71-69 edge, Long Beach State would not surrender it for the remaining 5:04 of the contest.

USF got a team-high 15 points from senior guard Lindsey Huff, who added six assists, while sophomore forward Carey Sauer added 11 points for the Lady Dons. Junior guard Lisa Whiteside added 10 points and pulled down six rebounds for San Francisco, while freshman forward Angela Gibson pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds.

Long Beach State, who out-rebounded USF 30-15 in the second half and held a 23-12 advantage on the offensive glass, got 27 points from Givens, 11 from Connors and 10 points from freshman guard Christina Mack. It was the fourth consecutive victory for the 49ers against the Lady Dons.

USF did not do themselves any favors at the free throw line and converted on just 14-of-28 while Long Beach State converted on 29-of-43, including 20-of-33 in the second period. The Lady Dons shot better from the floor, converting on .468 (29-62), while the 49ers hit at a .397 (27-68) pace.

San Francisco returns after the Christmas holiday to host 2001 Sweet-16 participant Utah, Sunday Dec.30. Game time is at 2:00 PM at War Memorial Gym.