Women’s Hoops Takes on UC Irvine on the Road in a Battle of the Unbeatens

Friday, January 15

Irvine, Calif.

4:00 PM

Long Beach State University

UC Irvine

Photo by: John Fajardo

Women’s Hoops Takes on UC Irvine on the Road in a Battle of the Unbeatens

1/14/2021 11:29:00 AM | Women's Basketball

LBSU and UCI will go head-to-head on Friday and Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Bren Events Center

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Game #9 // #10
Long Beach State at UC Irvine

Date: Friday, Jan. 15 // Saturday, Jan. 16
Time: 4:00 p.m. // 4:00 p.m.
Arena: Bren Events Center
Location: Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats: UCIrvineSports.com
Watch: BigWest.TV
Twitter: @BeachWBB

COMPLETE LBSU GAME NOTES (PDF)

Women's Hoops Takes on UC Irvine on the Road in a Battle of the Unbeatens
The Long Beach State women's basketball team added a pair of road games at UC Irvine on Friday, Jan. 15 and Saturday, Jan. 16. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m., at the Bren Events Center on both days. The games this weekend will count as LBSU's Big West Conference series against UC Irvine. The conference foes were originally slated to face off on March 5 and 6. Those games remain on the schedule, however, they will now be played at the Walter Pyramid and considered non-conference games. Both teams come into the series undefeated in Big West Conference action as the Beach are 6-0, while the Anteaters are 2-0, and sit atop the Big West Conference standings.

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
• With a pair of victories over Cal State Fullerton last weekend, Long Beach State is off to its best Big West Conference start (6-0) since the 2005-06 season.
• The Beach is riding a six-game winning streak, its longest such streak in five seasons, to bring the team's overall record to 7-1. LBSU's lone loss this season came in a six-point setback at USC on Dec. 23.
• LBSU is led by junior guard Justina King, who was named Big West Conference Player of the Week after helping the Beach defeat the Titans last week.
• On the year, King is averaging 15.9 points per game on 40.4 percent shooting. She has connected on 12-of-25 threes for a 48.0 three-point field goal percentage. Additionally, she adds 2.9 rebounds per game, and leads the squad with 27 assists while coming in second on the team with 17 steals.
• Joining King in double-figures for the Beach is redshirt junior guard Naomi Hunt who boasts 13.1 points per game and 4.8 rebounds per game. Hunt is the Beach's leader in made three-point field goals with 17 this season to average 2.1 per game.
• Hunt now has accumulated 127 three-point field goals in her career to rank fifth all-time at Long Beach State.
• In addition, Hunt also contributes 16 assists, 14 steals, and one block on the year, while shooting 36.4 percent from the field.
• While the Beach offense has been on point thus far, shooting 44.2-percent from the field and averaging 68.0 points per game, the LBSU defense has also been key. The Beach are averaging 12.0 steals per game and have forced opponents into 19.3 turnovers per game. Additionally, Long Beach State is averaging 33.6 rebounds per game to go along with 14.4 assists per game, and 1.5 blocks per game.
• Leading the way for the Beach in rebounding is sophomore Kristyna Jeskeova who is averaging 7.3 boards per game. Jeskeova is coming off of her fourth double-figure rebounding game this season and her first-career double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) against Cal State Fullerton last Friday.
• While cleaning up the glass seems to be Jeskeova's forte, she also averages 4.6 points per game to go along with 13 steals, 10 assists, and a team-leading five blocks.
• 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 UC Irvine
• UC Irvine comes into the series against Long Beach State with a 5-5 overall record and a 2-0 Big West Conference mark. Along with the Beach, the Anteaters are the only other Big West squad who has not lost a conference game yet.
• The Anteaters split their non-conference series against UC Riverside last week as UCI dropped the first contest by a score of 63-45, before coming back and defeating the Highlanders, 62-60.
• Kayla Williams leads a trio of double-figure scorers for UC Irvine with 13.6 points per game. Behind her are Sophia Locandro (11.0 points per game) and Chloe Webb (10.0 points per game).
• In addition to leading the Anteaters in scoring, Williams also tops the squad in assists (50) and steals (22). Meanwhile, she averages 3.1 rebounds per game and has posted two blocks.
• The Anteaters' leading rebounder this season is Webb who averages 7.4 boards per game. Webb also adds nine steals, seven assists, and two blocks.
• Locandro, meanwhile, is the team's leader in blocks with eight. Additionally, Locandro contributes 5.5 rebounds per game, eight steals, and four assists.
• As a team, UC Irvine is shooting 36.6 percent from the field and averaging 62.8 points per game. However, the Anteater defense has allowed 65.2 points per game.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Anteaters
Long Beach State and UC Irvine will meet for the 77th and 78th time in program history. The Beach holds the advantage in the overall series 59-17. Last season, the two teams split the series with Long Beach State defeating UCI, 56-46, in Irvine, Calif., on Jan. 25, before the Anteaters knocked off the Beach, 70-61, at the Walter Pyramid on Feb. 20.

Offensive Explosion
Long Beach State is averaging 68.0 points per game and shooting 44.2-percent from the field, while averaging 7.1 made three-point field goals per game. The Beach's offense has been solid as they own a 9.3 scoring margin over opponents. After years of being known as a defensively strong team, LBSU's offensive explosion as of late has the squad boasting three players who are shooting 50.0-percent or higher from the field in Kianna Hamilton-Fisher (57.1), Myrrah Joseph (55.8), and Ma'Qhi Berry (50.0).

Defensively Strong
The Beach's defense has been well-established as LBSU has lead the Big West in steals multiple times over the last several seasons. That continues to hold true as Long Beach State's average of 12.0 steals per game are tops in the league once again. Leading the way for the Beach is Ma'Qhi Berry who has totaled 18 steals for 2.3 per game to rank second in the conference. Coming in behind her are teammates Justina King (17 steals), Naomi Hunt (14 steals), Kristyna Jeskeova (13 steals), and Kianna Hamilton-Fisher (10 steals).

In the Hunt
Naomi Hunt is the Beach's leader in made three-pointers as she has amassed 17 thus far to average 2.1 per game, which is good for seventh in the Big West. Hunt has now accumulated 127 made threes in her career to take sole possession of 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 13.1 points per game, Hunt also averages 4.8 rebounds per game, while registering 16 assists, 14 steals, and one block this season.

King is Queen
Junior guard Justina King is the Beach's leading scorer with 15.9 points per game which is good for seventh in the Big West. King appears several times in the Big West Top 10 as she ranks fourth in steals (2.1), seventh in assist to turnover ratio (1.2), eighth in three-point field goal percentage (48.0%), and ninth in assists (3.4). King also leads Long Beach State in assists with 27 and steals with 17 this season.

Berry Good
The versatile Ma'Qhi Berry has been a key component for the Beach as she has consistently contributed on both sides of the ball in each game. She is averaging 8.4 points per game with 3.5 rebounds per game. Berry has also totaled 23 assists and 18 steals. Her 2.3 steals per game rank her second in the Big West and tops at the Beach. She also comes in ninth in league stats in offensive rebounds with 2.1 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 5-of-8 games thus far and has reached double-figures in four games, and a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) last weekend against Cal State Fullerton. She registered a career-high 12 boards on two occasions and is averaging 7.3 rebounds per game, which leads the Beach and puts her in eighth place in the Big West. Jeskeova also averages 5.5 defensive rebounds per game which is also good for seventh in league stats.

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 seven games off the bench thus far and is shooting a team-leading 55.8 percent from the field as she has connected on 24-of-43 field goals. She is averaging 7.6 points per game, 4.1 rebounds per game, with a total of 10 assists, seven steals, and one block.

Hardy Makes it Look Easy
Junior guard/forward Jasmine Hardy turned in a solid all-around effort in the Beach's 61-57 victory over CSU Bakersfield as she led LBSU in scoring with 17 points, one shy of her career-high, and kept the Beach competitive throughout the game. In just five games thus far, Hardy is averaging 8.0 points per game, and 3.2 rebounds per game, to go along with eight steals and three assists.

She's Got it Down Pat
Freshman guard Patricia Chung recorded a career-high 12 points in Long Beach State's 68-59 victory over CSU Bakersfield, marking her second double-figure performance this season. She has been a key component for the Beach off the bench this season as she is fourth on the squad in scoring with 8.3 points per game, while adding 3.4 rebounds per game. Additionally, Chung has been solid on both sides of the ball dishing out nine assists and swiping nine steals.

Next Up
Long Beach State will take on UC San Diego on Friday, Jan. 29 in La Jolla, Calif., at 5 p.m. The Beach and the Tritons will conclude the series on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 5 p.m., in La Jolla, Calif.