Long Beach State Women’s Basketball Takes on USC on the Road

Wednesday, December 23

Los Angeles, Calif.

4:00 PM

Long Beach State University

USC

Photo by: John Fajardo

Long Beach State Women’s Basketball Takes on USC on the Road

12/22/2020 10:28:00 AM | Women's Basketball

The Beach and the Trojans face off of Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Galen Center

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Game #2
Long Beach State at USC

Date: Wednesday, December 23
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Arena: Galen Center
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Live Stats: USCTrojans.com
Watch: Pac-12.com/live/usc
Twitter: @BeachWBB

COMPLETE LBSU GAME NOTES (PDF)

Long Beach State Women's Basketball Takes on USC on the Road
Coming off of a season-opening victory over Westmont, Long Beach State will hit the road for the Beach's first away game of the season as LBSU takes on USC on Wednesday, Dec. 23 at 4 p.m. at the Galen Center. The game will be streamed live on the USC Live Stream which can be accessed at pac-12.com/live/usc.

Getting Social
Follow Long Beach State women's basketball on Twitter and Instagram at @BeachWBB. You can also stay up-to-date on all things Long Beach State by following @LBSUAthletics on Twitter. Be sure to "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram at @LBSU. And don't forget our hashtag #GoBeach.

About the Beach
• Long Beach State opened the 2020-21 season with a 70-59 victory over Westmont. With the victory, the Beach improved to 34-24 in season openers, and 43-15 in home openers.
• In her first game back on the court in more than a year, redshirt junior forward Naomi Hunt drained four 3-pointers to bring her career total to 114 as she moved into 9th all-time at Long Beach State.
• Hunt finished the game with 14 points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block.
• Preseason Big West All-Conference selection, Justina King, led the Beach in scoring with 21 points for her seventh-career 20-point performance. The junior guard went on to add four boards, four assists, and four steals.
• Also reaching double-figures for the Beach in Saturday's season opener was redshirt junior guard Ma'Qhi Berry. Berry posted 12 points, six rebounds, five assists, and one steal in an all-around solid performance.
• Jasmine Hardy, a junior guard/forward, and Kristyna Jeskeova, a sophomore guard, each played 26 minutes in the season opener. Hardy finished with seven points, four rebounds, and three steals, while Jeskeova registered five points, six boards, three assists, three steals, and two blocks.
• Off the bench, Patricia Chung was solid in her collegiate debut logging eight points, five rebounds, two steals, and one assist in 25 minutes of action.
• As a team, the Beach shot 46.6 percent from the field and 50 percent from long distance. LBSU grabbed 33 rebounds and held the edge over Westmont in assists (15-9), steals (15-9), and blocks (4-0).
• The defensively strong Beach forced the Warriors into 20 turnovers and capitalized by scoring 19 points off of turnovers.
• Long Beach State has officially changed the nickname for all sports other than baseball to Beach with the NCAA. Please do not refer to LBSU basketball as the 49ers.

Scouting USC
• USC comes into the game against Long Beach State with a 2-4 overall record.
• The Trojans are coming off of a 77-54 victory over Cal on Monday. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for USC.
• USC is coached by Mark Trakh, who is in his ninth season at the helm. Trakh is in his second stint with the Trojans as he coached the Women of Troy from 2005-09, before returning in 2018. In his 25-year collegiate coaching career, Trakh has led his teams to eight NCAA Tournament appearances and three WINT showings.
• Endyia Rogers is the Trojans' leading scorer as she averages 16.7 points per game, while also leading the squad with 27 assists.
• Jordan Sanders is the Trojans' second leading scorer with 13.6 points per game. If her name sounds familiar around the Big West that would be because she played her first three seasons at UC Irvine, before heading to USC for her master's degree.
• Amaya Oliver leads the team in rebounding with 7.5 boards per game, while adding 9.7 points per game.
• Angel Jackson leads the Trojans defensively as she has posted 15 blocks and grabbed nine steals this season. Additionally, she contributes 9.5 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game.
• As a team, USC is shooting 43.2 percent from the field and averaging 68.2 points per game. The Trojans' defense is averaging 4.0 blocks per game, while collecting 6.2 steals per game.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Trojans
Long Beach State and USC will meet for the 63rd time in program history and the Beach hold the edge in the all-time series, 36-26. However, the Trojans are on a 10-game winning streak as LBSU is looking for its first win over USC since 2005. In their most recent meeting, USC earned a 57-40 victory over Long Beach State in Los Angeles on Dec. 21, 2019.

In the Hunt
After redshirting a year ago due to an injury, redshirt junior forward Naomi Hunt picked up right where she left off - draining threes. The Fullerton, Calif., native made four 3-pointer in the season opener against Westmont to bring her career total to 114. She now ranks ninth all-time at Long Beach State in made threes and is just two away from taking sole possession of eighth place all time.

King is Queen
Junior guard Justina King didn't miss a beat in Long Beach State's season opener against Westmont. The product out of Scarborough, Canada came out hot as she poured in 21 points to record her seventh-career 20-point performance. King led all scorers and shot an impressive 60.0 percent from the field as she connected on 9-of-15 shots. If that weren't enough, the versatile player also led the Beach in steals with four, while contributing four rebounds, and four assists. She was named LBSU Player of the Week for her efforts.

Berry Good
Redshirt junior Ma'Qhi Berry had a strong season opening performance against Westmont as she recorded her 14th double-figure scoring game of her career with a 12-point performance. Berry also tied for the team lead with six rebounds, while leading the squad with five assists. She also added one steal, all while shooting 71.4 percent from the field (5-for-7). She also was a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.

Hardy Makes it Look Easy
Junior guard/forward Jasmine Hardy turned in a solid all-around effort in the Beach's 70-59 victory over Westmont on Saturday. She contributed seven points, while adding four boards, and three steals in 26 minutes of action. She was 3-for-4 from the field kept the Beach competitive throughout the game.

Czech Her out
Sophomore guard, Kristyna Jeskeova, who hails from Jablonec Nad Nisou, Czech Republic earned her fifth start of her collegiate career and made the most of it. She tied for the team lead with six rebounds, and led the Beach with two blocks. Meanwhile, Jeskeova added five points, three assists, and as many steals in the season opening victory over Westmont.

She's Got it Down Pat
In her collegiate debut, freshman guard Patricia Chung came off the bench and tallied eight points and five rebounds in 25 minutes of action. The Monterey Park, Calif., native also contributed two steals, and one assist marking a solid season-opening performance. The Mark Keppel High School graduate seems to be picking up where she left off in high school as she was a two-time First Team All-League selection who averaged a double-double (20.9 ppg, 10.5 rpg). Look for her to continue her winning ways in Black and Gold.

Next Up
Long Beach State opens Big West Conference action on Sunday, December 27 when the Beach hosts UC Riverside. The Beach and the Highlanders will play a pair of games at 4 p.m., on back-to-back days.