The UCSB women are going back to the Big Dance.
The Gauchos beat Long Beach State 63-54 to win the Big West Basketball Tournament championship on Saturday at the Honda Center and earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament in coach Carlene Mitchell’s first year at the helm.
UCSB last played in the NCAA Tournament in 2009.
“I’m so proud of the kids,” Mitchell said in a TV interview as her players celebrated. “At the end of the day, they deserve all of the credit.”
Retired coach Mark French watched the celebration from the stands. He guided the Gauchos to 12 NCAA Tournaments.
Kirsten Tilleman scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, eight at the offensive end, to lead the Gauchos. She was named the tournament’s MVP.
“The MVP? I wasn’t expecting that,” Tilleman said. “I don’t even think about things like that. It’s really more of a reflection of my teammates and my coaches because they make it possible for anyone on this team to step up on any given night. It’s a great feeling right now.”
“That kid, I love her,” Mitchell gushed about Tilleman. “She’s got my personality. We go as Tilleman goes.”
Melissa Zornig added 12 points off the bench and Sweets Underwood scored 11.
Alex Sanchez scored 17 points and Devin Hudson tallied 15 to lead the 49ers.
After trailing 41-40 with 7:44 left in the second half, Johnson fed Kelsey Adrian for a 3-pointer to give the Gauchos the lead for good with 7:20 left.
Tilleman hit a short jumper and Zornig scored a layup to make it 53-46 with 4:06 left.
Long Beach got as close as 55-52 on a Sanchez layup with 2:07 left. But UCSB closed out the 49ers with a 7-0 run on a jumper by Underwood and free throws by Angelei Aguirre, Tilleman and Nicole Nesbit.
The Gauchos (17-15) came into the tournament as the 6th-seeded team and had to play on the road in the first round. They won at third-seeded UC Irvine (61-51) and then knocked off No. 5 Pacific (84-66) in the semifinals at the Honda Center. Seventh-seeded Long Beach upset No. 2 Cal State Northridge (57-52) and top-seeded Cal Poly (51-48).
“Never count out the Gauchos,” said Mitchell.
Mitchell is accustomed to getting into the NCAA Tournament. In her 10 seasons as an assistant and associate head coach under Hall of Famer C. Vivian Stringer at Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights went to nine straight NCAA Tournaments and advanced to the regional semifinals five times, and played in the national championship game in 2007.
