Shorthanded UCI bows out

ANAHEIM — At the end of a difficult season, UC Irvine Coach Molly Tuter was forced to make a tough call Tuesday, one day before the Anteaters battled Long Beach State in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Tuter’s decision to suspend starters Annie Mai and Miranda Forry, as well as key reserve Kirian Ishizaki, for one game, for what she called conduct detrimental to the team, made the No. 7-seeded Anteaters an even more decided underdog against the No. 6-seeded 49ers (8-22).

But, as they have all season long, the Anteaters, with just seven eligible players, showed more fight than anyone had a right to expect from them in dropping a 76-64 decision.

UC Irvine ended its season with a 6-24 record.

“We played [Long Beach State] five days ago and we lost by 14 with my whole team,” Tuter said. “Today, we lost by 12 with only six players playing significant minutes. Across the board, I thought our effort was absolutely outstanding.”

Among those delivering effort, as well as production, was junior 5-foot-9 post Stephanie Duda and senior guard Angie Ned.

Duda, who led all Big West players with 15 double-doubles (at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in a game) in the regular season, amassed 19 points and 17 boards, despite battling a Long Beach lineup that included five girls ranging from 6-0 to 6-3.

Ned, the Anteaters’ lone senior and a second-team all-conference performer who was also the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season, finished a distinguished collegiate career with a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds. It was the third double-double of the season for Ned.

“It could have been real easy for Duda and Ned to get down, especially when we got down by 20 and 22,” Tuter said. “But we kept fighting back, fighting back and figured out a way to make the game a little more competitive and exciting. From that perspective, I was happy with their effort.”

The three suspended players had averaged a combined 22.2 points in conference play. And the starting assignments filled by Forry and Mai were necessary after preseason starters Kelly Cochran and Christina Zdenek were both felled by season-ending injuries after playing just five and nine games, respectively.

The Anteaters also lost 6-4 freshman center Naomi Halman in December, when she elected to leave the team and return to the Netherlands.

So, in essence, UC Irvine was playing for its postseason life without five players, who were starters at one time or another during the season.

“I told Molly after the game, I really respect her decision to suspend her kids, no matter what they did,” Long Beach Coach Mary Hegarty said, “because it’s the right thing to do, if, like for most of us, the rules are important. [Tuter] did the tough thing and I was really impressed by that and I really respect that.”

Tuter said it was both a tough decision and an easy one.

“Because of the way I feel about the ways you need to be successful, it was an easy decision,” Tuter said. “But because I know kids make mistakes, it was a tough decision. And another thing that made it tough was thinking about wanting to give Ned her best chance in the tournament and trying to figure out the right thing to do for our team.”

The 49ers showed no mercy early, using an 11-0 run to break open a 6-6 tie and assume command.

Long Beach tied its season high with eight first-half three-pointers (eight for 13 for 61.4%) and led by as many as 26 before settling for a 48-28 edge at intermission.

The 49ers’ nine three-pointes were a season high.

“Their kids, you could tell they were a little down,” Hegarty said. “And then they got some life and started fighting back. With Angie Ned and Duda on their team, we knew no game is over until it’s over.

After surrendering the first five points of the second half, UCI put together a 12-2 run and eventually closed to within 59-46 with 9:37 left.

Long Beach rallied for a 12-3 spurt to regain a comfortable advantage.

UCI, which received a career-high 12 points as well as four steals and four assists from freshman guard Keyonna Johnson, scored the final 10 points of the game to start their push toward a more successful 2007-08.

“The only thing I want to forget about this season is the wins and losses,” Tuter said. “What [Ned and Duda] did this year gives us plenty of reasons to remember this season.”

Big WestUC Irvine -- Ned 22, Duda 19, Ke. Johnson 12, Lisnere 6, Tull 3, Maessen 2.

Conference Tournament

First round

Long Beach State 76,

UC Irvine 64

3-pt. goals -- Ned 1, Tull 1.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.

Long Beach State -- O’Brien 14, Wade 14, Jacob 13, Calhoun 10, Figueroa 10, Sims 8, Johnson 5, Takata 2.

3-pt. goals -- Jacob 3, Sims 2, Wade 2, Figueroa 2.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.

Halftime -- 48-28, CSULB.