With a 2-4 record on the season, the Long Beach State women’s basketball team is now halfway through its four-game road trip—they lost the first match to Washington State, and then on Sunday won a nailbiter against Idaho State, 55-54.  Up next for the 49ers are Nebraska, at 5pm local time on Friday, and Arizona at 1pm on Sunday.

The trip to Nebraska will mark the first time the 49ers have ever played on the Nebraska hardwood; they hold a 4-1 series lead over the Huskers, with their last meeting a 75-52 Huskers win in 2007.  It will be a tall task for the struggling 49ers to pick up another victory in the series, since Nebraska is currently 7-2 under coach Connie Yori, and they boast a trio of double-digit scorers.  Junior Cory Montgomery (15.9 ppg) also leads the team with 8 rebounds a game, and sophomore Dominique Kelley (10.9 ppg) and junior Yvonne Turner (10.0 ppg) have been productive as well. 

Coming south out of the cold, Long Beach will likely have a better showing against Arizona, as the Wildcats are 3-4, young, and struggling to find their identity.  Two of their leading scorers are familiar faces to local prep basketball fans, as freshmen Reiko Thomas of Narbonne, and Courtney Clements of Millikan, are helping to lead the way for Arizona with over 10 ppg each.  The 49ers will have to find an answer for sophomore phenom Ify Ibekwe if they want to avoid losing a fifth-straight to the Wildcats—Ibekwe is averaging 12.7 points and 11.4 rebounds a game.  They’ll also need to do a better job holding onto the ball—they’re averaging 22.8 a game, including 28 in each of the first two games on this road swing.

After closing out the trip on Sunday, the 49ers come home to host BYU on Saturday, December 20^th.