Beach Basketball Heads to CSU Bakersfield to Start 2021

Friday, January 1

Bakersfield, Calif.

4:00 PM

Long Beach State University

CSU Bakersfield

Photo by: John Fajardo

12/31/2020 11:30:00 AM | Women's Basketball

LBSU takes on Bakersfield on Friday and Saturday on ESPN3

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Game #5 // #6
Long Beach State at CSU Bakersfield

Date: Friday, Jan. 1 // Saturday, Jan. 2
Time: 4:00 p.m. // 4:00 p.m.
Arena: Cardo Center
Location: Bakersfield, Calif.
Live Stats: GoRunners.com.com
Watch: ESPN3
Twitter: @BeachWBB

COMPLETE LBSU GAME NOTES (PDF)

Beach Basketball Heads to CSU Bakersfield to Start 2021
The Long Beach State women's basketball team continues Big West Conference action with a pair of games at CSU Bakersfield on Friday, Jan. 1 and Saturday, Jan. 2. Both games are set to tip-off at 4 p.m., and will be streamed live on ESPN3.

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 goes into the games at CSU Bakersfield with a 3-1 record and the Beach are 2-0 after earning a pair of wins over UC Riverside to kick off Big West Conference action. With the two wins, LBSU is tied with UC Irvine for first place in the league standings.
• The Beach kicked off Big West Conference action with a convincing 30-point win versus the Highlanders, then came back two days later and defeated UCR 71-66 in Riverside, Calif.
• LBSU is led by junior guard Justina King and redshirt junior forward Naomi Hunt as the duo average 16.3 and 16.0 points per game respectively.
• King is shooting a solid 46.8 percent from the field (22-for-47) and has connected on 6-of-9 threes, while averaging 3.0 rebounds per game, to go along with a team-leading 15 assists, seven steals, and one block.
• Hunt, meanwhile, has been excellent from long distance as she has knocked down 15 threes in four games to bring her career total to 125 as she has moved into a tie for fifth place all-time at Long Beach State.
• In addition to her offensive prowess from three-point range, Hunt also provides the Beach with an average of 5.5 rebounds per game, 11 assists, seven steals, and one block.
• While the Beach offense has been on point thus far, shooting 46.6-percent from the field and averaging 70.0 points per game. The LBSU defense has also been key. The Beach are averaging 11.8 steals per game and have forced opponents into 17.5 turnovers per game. Additionally, Long Beach State is averaging 33.0 rebounds per game to go along with 15.8 steals per game, and 2.5 blocks per game.
• Leading the way for the Beach in rebounding is sophomore Kristyna Jeskeova who has notched three-straight double-figure rebounding games to average 10.0 boards per game. Additionally, Jeskeova has also contributed 4.8 points per game, while leading the team with nine steals and five blocks.
• Off the bench, Myrrah Joseph has made an impact in the three games in which she has played. The junior transfer from Hawaii is averaging 8.7 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game, all while totaling seven assists, four steals, and one block.
• Freshman guard Patricia Chung has made the most of her collegiate experience thus far as she is coming off of her first-career double-figure scoring contest (10 points at UCR). She is averaging 8.0 points per game and 2.5 boards per game. Chung has also amassed five assists and five steals in just four games played.
• 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 CSU Bakersfield
• CSU Bakersfield opens Big West Conference action against Long Beach State with a 1-2 overall record.
• The Roadrunners are coming off of a hiatus since Dec. 11 in which they suffered a 59-49 loss to Santa Clara.
• Greg McCall is in his eighth season at the helm of CSU Bakersfield and owns a 107-109 career record.
• The Roadrunners are led by Lexus Green and Vanessa Austin who average 15.0 and 12.0 points per game, respectively.
• Cleaning up the glass for CSU Bakersfield is Miracle Saxon with 7.3 rebounds per game. She also adds 6.0 points per game, seven assists, and a team-best six steals.
• Andie Easley's nine assists are tops on the squad, while she adds 4.7 points per game and 2.0 boards per game. She also has collected four steals and one block.
• As a team, CSU Bakersfield is shooting 43.7 percent from the field and averaging 55.7 points per game. The Roadrunners are averaging 28.7 rebounds per game, as well as 12.7 assists per game, 8.3 steals per game, and 4.0 blocks per game.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Roadrunners
Long Beach State and CSU Bakersfield will meet for just the fourth and fifth times in program history. The Roadrunners lead the all-time series 3-0, as the Beach are looking for their first-ever wins over CSU Bakersfield. The two teams previously met in 2008, 2009, and 2010 with the Roadrunners defeating the Beach 65-62, 73-57, 72-68, respectively.

In the Hunt
Naomi Hunt is the Beach's leader in made three-pointers as she has amassed 15 thus far to average 3.7 per game, which leads the Big West. Hunt has now accumulated 125 made threes in her career to tie for fifth place all-time at Long Beach State. Although she his known for her sharp shooting from long distance, Hunt has also contributed in many other ways. In addition to averaging 16.0 points per game, Hunt also averages 5.5 rebounds per game, while registering 11 assists, seven steals, and one blocks this season.

King is Queen
Junior guard Justina King is the Beach's leading scorer with 16.3. points per game which is good for sixth in the Big West. King appears several times in the Big West Top 10 as she ranks sixth in the league in field goal percentage (46.8), sixth in assists (3.8), seventh in steals (1.8), eighth in assist to turnover ratio (0.9), and 10th in made three-point field goals (1.5). Additionally, she has led the Beach in scoring twice and in steals once.

Berry Good
In four games, Ma'Qhi Berry has been a key component for the Beach. She is averaging 9.0 points per game with 2.8 rebounds per game. Berry has also totaled 13 assists and eight steals to average 3.3 assists per game and 2.0 steals per game. Both of those averages rank her in the top 10 in the Big West as she is tied for fifth in steals per game and eighth in assists per game.

Czech Her Out
Kristyna Jeskeova, who hails from Jablonec Nad Nisou, Czech Republic has seemed to settle into her role cleaning up the glass. Jeskeova has led the Beach in rebounding in all four games thus far and has reached double-figures in the last three games. She registered a career-high 12 boards on two occasions and is averaging 10.0 rebounds per game, which leads the Beach and ties her for fourth in the Big West. Jeskeova also averages 2.3 steals per game and 1.3 blocks per game which is good for fourth and fifth, respectively, in the conference.

Myrrah Myrrah With The Ball...
...Who is the fairest one of all? Myrrah Joseph, a junior transfer from Hawaii, has made herself at home at the Beach. She has seen action in three games off the bench thus far and is shooting a team-leading 52.2 percent from the field has she has connected on 12-of-23 field goals. Her shooting percentage is good for fourth in the league. She is averaging 8.7 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game, with a total of seven assists, four steals, and one block.

She's Got it Down Pat
Freshman guard Patricia Chung reached double-figures for the first time in her collegiate career with 10 points at UC Riverside on Dec. 29. She is averaging 8.0 points per game, 2.5 rebounds per game, while adding five assists and five steals off the bench for LBSU.

Next Up
Long Beach State will return to the Walter Pyramid to host Cal State Fullerton on Friday, Jan. 8 and Saturday, Jan. 9. Both games will tip-off at 4 p.m.