Beach Women’s Basketball Drops 74-64 Decision To Fresno State On The Road

Tuesday, November 21

Fresno, Calif.

6:00 PM

Long Beach State University

2-2,0-0Big West

Fresno State

4-1,0-0Mountain West

Long Beach St.

Fresno St.

Photo by: John Fajardo

Beach Women’s Basketball Drops 74-64 Decision To Fresno State On The Road

11/21/2023 8:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score LBSU-Fresno State Box Score

Cheyenne Givens and Savannah Tucker lead the LBSU offense with 17 and 14 points, respectively, while Davai Matthews put up a career-high six blocks

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

FRESNO, Calif. – Long Beach State Women's Basketball continued their road swing up at Fresno State and suffered a 74-64 setback at Save Mart Center on Tuesday night.

The Beach (2-2) fell behind early and the Bulldogs (4-1) never relinquished the lead as the hosts controlled the game. Long Beach State out-shot Fresno State 43.9 percent from the field to 36.6 percent. However, the Bulldogs led the Beach in rebounding (47-38), assists (11-5), and steals (10-4).

Cheyenne Givens led Long Beach State offensively with 17 points as she made 7-of-11 field goals and 3-of-5 three-pointers. She also chipped in three rebounds and one assist, and one steal for the Beach.

Savannah Tucker, who grew up in Fresno and prepped at Clovis North High School, finished strong in front of her hometown. The junior guard connected on 5-of-10 field goals and posted 14 points. She played well on all sides of the ball grabbing seven rebounds, while adding one steals on the defensive end.

Adding to the Beach's rebounding game was sophomore Davai Matthews who concluded the game with six boards, a career-high six blocks, and four points.

Fresno State jumped out in front to a quick 7-0 lead and never looked back. The Bulldogs led 11-2 when the Beach called a timeout at 7:03 in the first quarter. The Bulldogs led by as many as 15 (26-11) in the frame before closing the first quarter with a 27-15 advantage.

The Beach managed to cut the Bulldogs' lead down to single digits on several occasions during the second quarter. Chipping away at Fresno State's lead throughout the frame, saw Long Beach State trail by just seven (43-36) at halftime.

Early in the third quarter, Fresno State pushed its lead back up to double digits. However, Long Beach State was unfazed. The Beach furiously chipped away at the Bulldogs' lead and whittle the lead down to four (49-45) at 3:31 thanks to a jumper from Sydney Woodley. After finding their lead down to four, the Bulldogs called a timeout. By the time the clock expired to send the game into the fourth quarter, the Beach trailed by just six (55-49).

Givens kicked off the fourth quarter with a jumper to make it a four-point game (55-51) once again. However, that was the closest the Beach would get as Fresno State would surge ahead in the final 10 minutes of action. The Bulldogs pushed their lead back up to double-digits and led by as many as 13 (74-61) in the frame, before defeating Long Beach State, 74-64.

Fresno State had four players reach double-figures. Mia Jacobs led the way with 16 points, while Keely Brown finished the game with 14. Sydney Dethman and Kylee Fox concluded the game with 11 points each. Jacobs also led the team in rebounding with 13 boards for a double-double. Taija Santa Maria dished out seven assists, while also contributing nine points, three rebounds, and one steal.

Long Beach State will be back in action on Monday, Nov. 27 at Pepperdine. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.