Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
LMU
Long Beach State Falls to Loyola Marymount
11/17/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The Long Beach State women's basketball team continued their gritty, hard-nosed style of play, but fell short once again as the Beach dropped an 84-69 decision to Loyola Marymount on Friday night inside the Walter Pyramid.
The Beach are now 0-3 on the year, while the Lions improve to 3-0. Despite opening the season with three straight losses, Long Beach State is showing definite improvement with a talented group of young players.
Against LMU, Long Beach State saw four players score in double figures as freshman forward Naomi Hunt led the way with 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds. She also added two assists, a pair of steals and one block. Hunt was solid offensively as she finished the game connecting on 7-of-9 shots from the field and was 3-for-5 from long distance.
In addition to Hunt's positive offensive performance, freshman guard Ma'Qhi Berry added 16 points, while senior guard Jessica Gertz contributed 14, and rookie center Emma Merriweather posted 13. Long Beach State also received nine points from freshman Shanaijah Davison off the bench.
"I was disappointed that we dropped this one, but it's all a learning process," Long Beach State head coach Jeff Cammon said. "I think we're getting better and we'll continue to improve every night. It's a long season and we're just looking forward to continuing to get better."
The Beach shot 42.2 percent from the field in the game and the Lions shot 47.4 percent as the two teams kept the game close throughout the first three quarters. The deciding factor in the game came at the line as Loyola Marymount went to the charity stripe 28 times and connected on 23 free throws. Meanwhile, Long Beach State was just 6-for-8 from the line.
"When you look at the fouls, I think that will tell you why they were able to score in the 80s," Cammon stated. "This is a team that usually averages 65 (points per game) and they had 84 tonight. They had 28 free throw attempts and we had eight. They were able to get to the line tonight and we weren't. Part of that is that we're still having a hard time not fouling. We have to get better. I've got to get our kids better at containing the ball without putting their hands on them and we will. I think that was the discrepancy if you look at the stats."
Despite collecting just four more fouls than LMU, Long Beach State was outscored 23-6 from the line. The Beach, however, did their best to close the gap by forcing the Lions into 21 turnovers. LBSU then capitalized and scored 31 points off of turnovers.
Hunt was on fire in the first half as she was 5-for-6 in the opening 20 minutes and did not miss a shot until 14 seconds before halftime. She went into the break with 13 points to lead all scorers as the Beach trailed the Lions by five (34-29).
The turning point came in the second half when LMU's Cheyanne Wallace poured in 21 points in the final 20 minutes of action and finished the game with 29 points, 15 of which came from the charity stripe. The Lions ended the game with five players in double figures as Gabby Green recorded 15 points, Makenzie Cast added 12, while Andee Velasco and Bree Alford each posted 10.
Despite their efforts, Long Beach State was unable to close the gap as Loyola Marymount came away with an 84-69 victory.
"It's about playing hard, giving effort and being good a teammate -- those are our standards," Cammon said. "Every day at practice, in the classroom, on the court, the standard is to bring 110 percent and have a good attitude. It doesn't matter who we're playing and what's going on, as a staff and as a program, we're going to bring 110 percent every night and ultimately it's going to lead to wins.
"For us it's not just about the wins, but about getting better; improvement and getting the most out of our ability every day and every night. A lot of our kids haven't experienced (playing at the collegiate level), but one thing they do know, and our opponents are going to know, is that they're going to get our best with our effort and our toughness."
The Beach will continue to bring their effort and toughness to the court day in and day out as they look ahead to notching that first win of the season.
Long Beach State kicks off a six-game road swing with a match at USC on Monday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.
