The Cal Poly women’s basketball team embraced history Saturday night, but the Mustangs are not satisfied yet. They (16-10, 12-3 Big West) defeated Long Beach State (8-21, 6-9) 61-48 to clinch a share of the Big West regular season title — for the first time in program history.
However, with one game remaining against second place UC Santa Barbara, the Mustangs are not in the mood to share.
“We want to put the first banner in Mott Gym, and we don’t want it to say ‘Co,’” head coach Faith Mimnaugh said. “We’re not interested in ‘Co.’ We’re happy that we’re at least in that position, but Santa Barbara has enough banners in their gym.”
Guard Rachel Clancy guided the Mustangs through a tough stretch in the first half after the 49ers took a 7-2 lead out of the gates. Yet, once Cal Poly began to work its way around the full-court press, the Mustangs were off to the races. Clancy hit a 3-pointer with 13:50 to go in the first half to take an 8-7 lead, and the Mustangs would not trail again.
“I know that when everyone sits down after their dinner tonight, and really thinks about it, they’ll realize we made history tonight for Cal Poly,” Clancy said. “It’s just been a phenomenal season and everyone in the locker room is really contributing, and I think that’s what makes it special. It truly is a team championship this year.”
Over a span of nine minutes in the first half, Cal Poly turned a 7-2 deficit into a 19-7 lead, on the back of seven points from Clancy and poor shooting by the 49ers. Over the same stretch Long Beach State was 0-11 from the field.
The 49ers worked their way back in the final nine minutes of the half, clawing within three points on the final possession. 49er forward Courtney Jacob drove the lane toward center Abby Bloetscher and put up a shot with three seconds remaining. It bounced off the backboard, but ricocheted back to Jacob, who turned and shot as the buzzer sounded.
The basket counted and, although it was a questionable call, the officials drew no ire from the Mustang bench.
“It sucked going into halftime with a one-point lead, but maybe on the other hand it was good for us because it fired us up,” Bloetscher said. “It happened and I think we responded to it well and completely shut them down in the second half.”
A complete shutdown is not a bad description for the Cal Poly defense in the final period. After watching their 12-point lead shrink to one before the break, the Mustangs went on an 8-0 run during the first 5:20 of the second half.
Long Beach State did not score a point until Ella Clark knocked down two free-throws nearly seven minutes into the half, and the 49ers failed to convert a shot from the field until Clark hit a 3-pointer with 6:34 remaining in the game.
Clark’s 3-pointer put the 49ers within 10 points, as the Mustangs led 49-39.
The Mustangs caught a spark and began to pull away after guard Ashlee Burns drilled her second 3-pointer of the game with 5:28 to go. The shot began a 12-2 Cal Poly run and sealed the game for the Mustangs.
“She’s been doing it for us all year,” Clancy said. “She’s a real spark when she comes off the bench. She has the green light because she can shoot it from anywhere in the gym. It’s always great when there’s a tough possession, we’re scrambling, the ball is chucked out to Burns and she knocks down a beautiful three.”
Burns ended the game with 13 points, while going 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Clancy led the Mustangs with 24 points, while Bloetscher racked up 16. One of the unsung leaders of the night was forward Kayla Griffin, who came down with 13 rebounds and eight assists. She was a player who Clancy said was a critical part of the Mustangs’ success.
The team shot 46.9 percent, while holding the 49ers to 31.6 percent.
The Mustangs square off against UC Santa Barbara with the title on the line next week.
“We need everybody’s help to beat the Gauchos,” Mimnaugh said. “(The students) have got to come out. I’ll go wherever; I’ll be kissing babies.”
A win would assure the Mustangs an outright championship, while a loss would send the decision to a tiebreaker. The next installment of the Blue-Green Rivalry starts at 4 p.m. in Mott Gym next Saturday. Regardless of the outcome, the Mustangs will host the first round of the tournament on March 8.