Strong Defense Key to Long Beach State’s Win Over Richmond at UVA Cavalier Classic

Friday, November 26

Charlottesville, Va.

11:30 AM

Long Beach State University

5-0,0-0Big West

Richmond

2-3,0-0Atlantic 10

Long Beach St.

Richmond

Photo by: John Fajardo

Strong Defense Key to Long Beach State’s Win Over Richmond at UVA Cavalier Classic

11/26/2021 2:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Kianna Hamilton-Fisher had a season-high 15 points, while Maddi Utti logged a season-best 14 rebounds to go along with a career-high eight steals

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Box Score (PDF)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Long Beach State opened action at the UVA Cavalier Classic in a defensive standoff with Richmond as the Beach pulled away in the second half to come out on top 52-44.

The Beach (5-0) have now won five-straight contests, marking their best start to the season since 1985-86 when the squad kicked off the year with a 7-0 record. The Spiders, meanwhile, fell to 2-3 on the year.

A slow first half hampered the Beach as they led 14-12 at the end of the first quarter and were down one (23-22) at the end of the first half. The bright spot in the opening 20 minutes of action for LBSU was Maddi Utti's solid defense. The senior forward finished the first half with seven steals to go along with nine rebounds, four points, three steals, and one block. Utti would finish the game with a career-high eight steals, a season-high 14 rebounds, six points, three assists, and one block.

Long Beach State heated up in the second half as the Beach shot over 50.0-percent from the field in both the third and fourth quarters. The Beach used a 6-0 run to turn a 26-24 deficit into a 30-26 lead after a jump shot from Kianna Hamilton-Fisher with 6:27 remaining in the third. LBSU rattled off another six-straight points to lead by as many as seven (38-31) in the frame thanks to another bucket from Hamilton-Fisher, before the Spiders closed the gap, 38-35, heading into the final quarter.

The Beach shot an impressive 55.6-percent from the field in the fourth quarter as they connected on 5-of-9 field goals and were 4-for-6 from the line. While the LBSU offense surged, the defense continued its stout play as the Beach limited the Spiders to just nine points in the frame on 26.7-percent shooting from the field. LBSU led by as many as 11 (52-41) in the game, before Richmond's Sydney Boone drained a three with just 21 seconds remaining as the Beach won, 52-44.

Hamilton-Fisher led all scorers with a season-high 15 points, just one off her career-high, as she connected on 7-of-14 field goals, one of which came from long distance. She also added four assists, three rebounds, three steals, and one block.

Also scoring in double-figures for the Beach were Jasmine Hardy and Justina King who each tallied 11 points. Myrrah Joseph came off the bench and scored a season-high nine points, while grabbing two boards, collecting two assists, one block, and one steal.

Richmond was led by Addie Budnik's 14 points, while Kate Klimkiewicz added 12 rebounds, eight points, five assists, four steals, and a block.

Long Beach State will look to extend its winning streak to six on Sunday, Nov. 28 when they take on 7-0 Rhode Island at 10 a.m. (PT)/1 p.m. (ET). The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network and will be available to stream on the ESPN App or through WatchESPN.