Strong Finish Leads Long Beach State to Road Victory over UC Santa Barbara

Thursday, January 13

Santa Barbara, Calif.

7:00 PM

Long Beach State University

10-1,3-0Big West

UC Santa Barbara

7-4,1-1Big West

Long Beach St.

UC Santa Barbara

Photo by: John Fajardo

Strong Finish Leads Long Beach State to Road Victory over UC Santa Barbara

1/13/2022 9:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Maddi Utti recorded her third 20-point performance of the season as she led a quartet of double-digit scorers

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Box Score (PDF)

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Maddi Utti had a night as she recorded 21 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and five steals to lead Long Beach State to a 68-54 victory over UC Santa Barbara on Thursday evening at the Thunderdome.

With the win, Long Beach State (10-1, 3-0 Big West) snapped UC Santa Barbara's (7-4, 1-1 Big West) five-game winning streak and handed the Gauchos their first loss in Big West Conference action. Meanwhile, the Beach improved to 3-0 in league play after shooting 45.6-percent from the field, while boasting four double-figure scorers.

The Beach's offense was led by Utti's third 20-point performance of the season, while Kristyna Jeskeova came off the bench and added 12 points to tie her career-high. Ma'Qhi Berry and Kianna Hamilton-Fisher also recorded double-digits with 10 points each.

A jumper by Maddi Utti in the final seconds of the first half sends the Beach into halftime with a 33-31 lead over UCSB #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/ZKvrJ0Le8g
— LBSU W Basketball (@beachwbb) January 14, 2022

While the offense was solid, the Beach defense kept Long Beach State in the game. UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State battled each other early on trading leads seven times, while seeing as many ties in the contest. However, when the LBSU offense would go cold, the Beach defense kicked it up a notch and held the Gauchos to limited scoring, while forcing turnovers to keep the game close.

The Beach trailed 20-18 after the first quarter and both teams were held scoreless for 4:30 in the second quarter. Berry ended the scoring drought with a turnaround jumper at 3:36 and Utti gave LBSU its first lead of the game (27-26) with 1:40 remaining in the first half. Long Beach State managed to take a two-point lead (33-31) into halftime after Utti hit a jumper with just two seconds left on the clock.

Both teams continued to trade points in the third quarter as they headed into the final 10 minutes of action with Long Beach State leading, 46-44, in a close and competitive game in which neither team led by more than two possessions in the first three quarters.

That would all change in the fourth quarter as Long Beach State connected on 7-of-11 field goals to shoot a whopping 63.6-percent from the field and outscore the Gauchos 22-10. The Beach broke the game open on a 12-0 run which was jumpstarted by seven-straight points from Jasmine Hardy. LBSU led UCSB by as many as 16 points (68-52) in the frame and cruised to a 68-54 win.

4Q | Jasmine Hardy gives the Beach the lead on a triple! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/VzLuta3ngl
— LBSU W Basketball (@beachwbb) January 14, 2022

UC Santa Barbara was led by Danae Miller who finished the game with 15 points, while Ila Lane concluded the contest with a double-double (10 points, 12 rebounds), and Megan Anderson added 11 points.

Long Beach State has now won three-straight contests as the Beach look to extend that streak this Saturday, Jan. 15 when they take on CSUN at 2 p.m. at the Matadome.