Patrick TrautfieldANAHEIM – What could have been a historic run to the first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history instead played out like a funeral.
Whereas the Cal Poly women’s basketball team hoped to open play at the Big West Conference Tournament with a bang Thursday, it instead opened with a resounding thud that was heard throughout the Anaheim Convention Center.
The third-seeded Mustangs suffered a season-ending 70-67 upset loss in the quarterfinal round at the hands of No. 6 seed Long Beach State.
This after Cal Poly (14-14, 9-5 Big West) had won nine of its last 10 regular-season games, clinched a bye in the first round, earned its best Big West winning percentage ever and was one victory away from the program’s first winning season since going 15-12 at the Division II level in 1991-92.
“It hurts,” Cal Poly senior forward Jessica Eggleston said.
Teary-eyed in a somber post-game press conference, Cal Poly head coach Faith Mimnaugh said the game was “obviously one of the most exciting games in the Big West Tournament I’ve been a part of.”
Indeed, the Mustangs stormed back from a 40-16 halftime deficit and were actually tied at 67 with 25 seconds to play following a 3-pointer by sophomore forward Megan Harrison.
But Long Beach State sophomore guard Karina Figueroa hit a 3-pointer of her own from the wing with 16 seconds left to put the 49ers ahead 70-67. Eggleston and then Harrison both missed jumpers in the final 15 seconds.
“I don’t think the last shot I took was a good shot,” Eggleston said.
Harrison had a team-high 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in 27 minutes. Eggleston added 10 points, seven boards, three assists and two steals. No other players scored in double figures for the Mustangs.
“We never expected to have a 20-point lead at halftime,” Long Beach State head coach Mary Hegarty said.
Actually, the 49ers led by 24 at halftime – a 40-16 margin derived from Cal Poly’s 16.7 percent shooting and assist-to-turnover ratio of 2-12 in the first 20 minutes.
The Mustangs, though, rallied with a dominant full-court press and wound up winning the second half, 51-30.
“We kind of got tentative,” Hegarty said. “That allowed them to be more aggressive. Our standing around and staring hurt us a bit.”
But ultimately, it was too little, too late for the Mustangs, who have won only one conference tournament game since the 2001-02 season.
“We came out lackadaisical,” Cal Poly junior guard Kyla Howell said.
Long Beach State (9-22, 4-10), which suddenly looks like a potential Cinderella team, came out throwing haymakers at both ends of the court, and Cal Poly had no discernable answers.
While the 49ers hit 15 of their first 28 floor shots and wielded an effective high-low offense, the Mustangs were missing layups left and right.
Cal Poly missed 35 of its 42 shots from the field in the first half, including an 0-for-5 mark from 3-point range.
A stalwart interior defense was the catalyst early for Long Beach State, which blocked eight shots in the first half – four alone by Courtney Jacob.
With the referees calling fouls loosely, Cal Poly looked outmuscled and outmatched, frequently losing fights for the ball and not capitalizing on open looks.
By the time the Mustangs switched to a full-court press every inbound for the second half, it was too late.
A sign of Long Beach State’s fortune came when Figueroa sank a fadeaway 3-pointer as the shot clock expired and fell to the court with just more than 13 minutes remaining in the game.
Howell is one of four starters who will return next season for Cal Poly, which will also regain the services of Sparkle Anderson.
Anderson, who entered the season as the team’s four-year starting point guard, suffered a season-ending ACL injury in November. She will be back for her senior season after using a medical redshirt this year.
“This definitely put a fire in our hearts,” Howell said of next season.