WOMEN’S BASKETBALL BIG WEST TOURNAMENT : UC Santa Barbara Dominates Fullerton Again

Another day, another motivational tool.

The UC Santa Barbara women’s basketball team was getting ready to play its second game in five days against Cal State Fullerton. Already, it held a vocal team meeting to prepare for the Big West Conference tournament. There, the Gauchos got good and mad about a perceived slight against them made last week by a local cable TV commentator.

What else, what else?

Luckily, senior forward Barbara Beainy had good ears.

“Somebody out there in the lobby said that we couldn’t beat them three times,” she said. “We thought about it a little and said, ‘Heck, we can beat them three times in a row.’ ”

After the top-seeded Gauchos did beat the No. 8 Titans, 86-59, in the conference quarterfinals at Long Beach Arena, Beainy looked at her coach, Mark French, and joked about the source of the pregame comment.

“Maybe these guys made it up to inspire us,” said Beainy, who was named Big West player of the year before Wednesday’s game.

Said French, laughing: “Maybe (assistant coach) Barb (Ehardt) is a ventriloquist and she throws her voice, ‘We can’t beat Fullerton.’ ”

Titan senior forward Claudette Jackson, who had game-high 27 points, said that an early 14-0 streak by the Gauchos took a lot out of her and her teammates. The Gauchos (24-4) also realized the Titans were sagging.

“That’s been a little bit of a symptom of our team the whole year,” said Fullerton Coach Maryalyce Jeremiah, whose team finished with an 11-17 record. “I don’t think anybody gave up. I just think you see shoulders drop, you see a reaction.”

The Gauchos again had balanced scoring, with four players in double figures. Lisa Crosskey led with 19 points, Becky Brown had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Beainy scored 14 and Erika Kienast had 13. Fullerton’s Big West freshman of the year, Kisa Hughes, scored 18 points and had 16 rebounds.

OTHER GAMES

Long Beach 86, Fresno State 60--The 49ers, seeded second, had little trouble avenging an earlier loss to the Bulldogs. In early February, Long Beach lost to Fresno State by two points in overtime.

This time, the 49ers (20-8) went ahead by 10 points within the first five minutes and led, 46-25, by halftime.

“We focused more on (Tammie) Beckley,” Long Beach Coach Glenn McDonald said of Fresno State’s point guard. “She didn’t win the game for them at Fresno State, but she was the one who created everything up there.”

In the previous game, the 49ers also were without guard Marsheela Harriston, out with a dislocated knee. Harriston’s return has helped take some pressure off Trise Jackson in the backcourt. Jackson, who had 19 points, tied a tournament record on Wednesday by going five for five from three-point range.

Leading the 49ers in scoring was forward Danielle Scott with 20 points. Kari Parriott had 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Harriston scored 10 points.

For Fresno State (13-15), reserve guard Sue Will had a game-high 23 points. Beckley scored 12.

Hawaii 78, Pacific 65--The No. 21-ranked Wahines rallied from a 40-36 deficit at halftime with a 21-4 run in the second half. Hawaii (23-5) had 18 points from Tricia Stringam and 17 from Jennifer Hurt. Natasha Norris had 26 points for Pacific (13-15).

New Mexico State 87, Nevada Las Vegas 86--Tracey Goetsch’s layup at the buzzer was the difference as the sixth-seeded Roadrunners upset the No. 3 Rebels. UNLV had rallied from a seven-point deficit in final three minutes. Andrea Kabwasa scored 28 points and Goetsch 22 to lead the Roadrunners (16-14). Sharon Hargrove scored 29 points for UNLV (16-10.