Women’s Basketball Returns Home To Host The Beach Classic

Friday, December 15

Long Beach, Calif.

6:00 PM

Long Beach State University

Colorado State

Photo by: John Fajardo

12/14/2023 11:30:00 AM | Women's Basketball

LBSU Game Notes

The Beach welcome Colorado State, Pacific, and UC Irvine to the Walter Pyramid for the Beach Classic on Friday and Saturday

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

LONG BEACH STATE (3-3) vs. COLORADO STATE (8-0)
Date: Friday, Dec. 15
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Venue: Walter Pyramid
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Jason Schwartz & Devin Hudson
Radio: 22 West Radio
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com
Twitter: @LBSUWBB
Tickets: LongBeachState.com/Tickets

Women's Basketball Returns Home To Host The Beach Classic
After playing four-straight road games, the Long Beach State Women's Basketball team is back at the Walter Pyramid for the first time in a little over one month. LBSU will be hosting the annual Beach Classic as it welcomes Colorado State, Pacific, and UC Irvine for games on Friday, Dec. 15 and Saturday, Dec. 16. The Beach and the Rams kick off the classic on Friday at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the 'Mid will play host to two contests as LBSU and Pacific go head-to-head at 5 p.m., followed by UC Irvine and Colorado State at 7 p.m.

Catch All the Action
All Long Beach State home games will be broadcast live on ESPN+. The UCI-Colorado State game will not be streamed. However, fans can follow the action on BeachLiveStats.com.

Fans can sign up for ESPN+ for $9.99 per month ($99.99 per year) at ESPN.com, ESPNPlus.com, or on the ESPN App. It is also available as part of the Disney Bundle that gives subscribers access to Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu for $14.99 per month (Hulu with ads) or $24.99 per month (Hulu without ads).

Staying Social
Follow Long Beach State women's basketball on Twitter and Instagram at
@LBSUWBB. 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.

In The Rankings
• Long Beach State is 3-3 on the year and is not currently ranked in the AP Poll, the USA Today/WBCA Poll, or the Women's Mid-Major Top 25 Poll.
• Colorado State owns a perfect 8-0 record. The Rams are receiving votes in the AP Poll.
• Pacific brings a 6-4 record into the Beach Classic. The Tigers are not currently ranked in the AP Poll, the USA Today/WBCA Poll, or the Women's Mid-Major Top 25 Poll.
• UC Irvine comes into the Beach Classic with a 6-3 record. The Anteaters are not ranked in the AP Poll or the USA Today/WBCA Poll. However, they are receiving votes in the Women's Mid-Major Top 25 Poll.

About the Beach
• Long Beach State brings a 3-3 overall record into the annual Beach Classic.
• The Beach opened the 2023-24 campaign with an 82-62 victory over Biola marking the first of Head Coach Amy Wright's collegiate coaching career.
• Wright's team is expected to bring "Fast, Furious, Fun" to the Beach as the team will showcase a fast offense, a furious defense, and a lot of fun both on and off the court.
• LBSU has two double-figure scorers in Savannah Tucker (16.2 ppg) and Cheyenne Givens (10.8 ppg).
• Tucker is the Beach's leading scorer as she averages 16.2 points per game on a 47.1 field goal percentage (32-68). She also adds 3.8 rebounds per game, while chipping in 10 assists and eight steals.
• Givens is Long Beach State's second-leading scorer with 10.8 points per game on a 49.0 field goal percentage (24-49). In addition, Givens is averaging 2.3 rebounds per game to go along with nine steals, eight assists, and three blocks.
• Redshirt sophomore Sydney Woodley leads the Beach in steals with 15 over the last six games. Additionally, she contributes 8.7 points per game and 4.2 rebounds per game.
• Sophomore Abby Shoff leads the Beach in rebounding with 4.8 boards per game. She also contributes 7.8 points per game, while adding six assists, two steals, and one block.
• Junior Patricia Chung was incredible in the season opener as she dished out a career-high eight assists, while also logging nine points and seven rebounds. Since then, Chung has settled in to averaging 6.8 points per game and 3.5 rebounds per game, while still leading the team with 18 assists.
• Joining Coach Wright on the bench this season is a brand new coaching staff comprised of Brian Rosario, Jashae Lee, and Raru Archer, while Brittany Klaman will be the squad's director of operations.
• The Beach have been picked to finish seventh in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll with a total of 45 points. Hawaii, which garnered 95 points and six first-place votes was chosen as the league winner. Meanwhile UC Irvine (88 points, two first-place votes) and UC Davis (85 points, three first-place votes) were expected to finish second and third to round out the top three.

Player Notes
• Lauren Cummings is an incoming freshman guard who hails from Billings, Mont. The 6-foot Cummings made her collegiate debut in the season opener against Biola and recorded her first career rebound. Since then, she has seen limited action coming in off the bench in five games and playing in just over 11 minutes of action.
• Lovely Sonnier came to the Beach after playing two years at South Carolina State. The junior guard has started in all six games for LBSU thus far. On the year, she is averaging 4.3 points per game and 3.3 rebounds per game, while also adding six steals, six assists, and three blocks.
• Junior guard Savannah Tucker is Long Beach State's leading scorer as she is averaging 16.2 points per game on a 47.1 field goal percentage (32-68). She also adds 23 boards, 10 assists, and eight steals.
• Patricia Chung is Long Beach State's leader in assists as the junior guard has dished out 18 on the year. Additionally, she is averaging 6.8 points per game and 3.5 rebounds per game.
• Cheyenne Givens is a graduate transfer who has been heating up offensively knocking down 17 points at both California Baptist and Fresno State. She is the team's second leading scorer as she averages 10.8 points per game, while adding 2.3 rebounds per game, and totaling nine steals, eight assists, and three blocks.
• Kennan Ka earned the start in the Long Beach State season opener against Biola and played in two minutes and 30 seconds before leaving the court due to a season-ending injury.
• After redshirting for the Beach a year ago, Casey Valenti Paea made her long awaited LBSU debut against Biola and earned her first start in Black and Gold against Nevada. On the year, she is averaging 5.7 points per game and 2.2 rebounds per game, to go along with 12 assists and nine steals.
• Jada Crawshaw, a freshman from Sydney, Australia, made her collegiate debut in the LBSU season opener against Biola on Nov. 8. She has since averaged 6.2 points per game and 4.2 rebounds per game, while also chipping in four blocks, four steals, and two assists.
• Sophomore forward Abby Shoff has come off the bench in all six of Long Beach's games this season and is leading the Beach in rebounding (4.8), while adding 7.8 points per game. Shoff also adds six assists, two steals, and one block on the season.
• Sydney Woodley has started in all six games for Long Beach State. She is the Beach's leader in steals with 15 swipes to average 2.5 steals per game, which is third in The Big West. She also has contributed 8.7 points points per game and 4.2 rebounds per game, to go along with five assists.
• Olivia Moore redshirted last season at Long Beach State and made her collegiate debut for the Beach in the season opener against Biola. On the year she is averaging 1.4 points per game and 0.8 rebounds per game, while totaling two assists and one block in just over 31 minutes played.
• Davai Matthews came back to Long Beach State after seeing limited action last year due to an injury. In six games thus far, she has become the team's leader in blocker with nine on the year to average 1.5 per game which puts her third in The Big West. Additionally, Matthews contributes 4.2 rebounds per game and 3.0 points per game.

Scouting Colorado State
• Colorado State brings a perfect 8-0 record into the Beach Classic.
• The Rams have picked up key road wins this season against San Francisco (63-53) and Montana (78-69).
• As a team, the Rams are averaging 76.3 points per game, while allowing just 53.9 for a scoring margin of 22.4.
• From the field, Colorado State is shooting 47.1 percent to lead the Mountain West. They are averaging 35.0 rebounds per game, while also averaging 16.5 assists, 7.6 turnovers, 7.1 steals, and 5.9 blocks per game this season.
• The Rams' assist/turnover ratio of 2.16 leads the nation.
• McKenna Hofschild has been on-point for the Rams this season. She is the team's leading scorer with 22.6 points per game which ranks her 10th in the nation. She comes in in the Top 10 in the country in four categories as she is ninth in three-point percentage (53.1), fourth in assists/turnover ratio (5.38), and first in assists per game (8.8).
• Hanna Ronsiek is the team's second-leading scorer with 10.4 points per game. She also chips in 5.3 rebounds per game, while totaling 11 blocks, nine assists, and eight steals.
• Sydney Mech has put up team-leading 13 blocks thus far to go along with 6.1 points per game and 1.9 rebounds per game. She also contributes eight steals and seven assists.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Rams
Long Beach State and Colorado State will meet for just the fourth time in program history and for the first time since 2003. In a series that dates back to 1994, the Rams lead the all-time series 3-0 as the Beach are looking for their first-ever win over Colorado State. All three previous contests have been played in Fort Collins, Colo., as Friday's game marks the first in Long Beach, Calif. In their last game, Colorado State defeated LBSU, 67-49, on Nov. 28, 2003 in Fort Collins.

Fast, Furious, and Fun
When asked what to expect from the Beach this season, sophomore forward Abby Shoff responded, "Fast, furious, and fun! That's really what we are. We're very energized. You can tell we're having a lot of fun out there."

Coach Wright expanded saying, "(The fans) should expect games in the 80s and 90s. A lot of threes going up. A lot of quick buckets. Playing fast is us trying to score between 8-12 seconds on the shot clock. So, we want to get the ball up and take a really good shot. We want to share the basketball.

"Furious is defensively, we want to get after you," Wright continued. "We want to create havoc on that end. We've got to have a chip on our shoulder. Not necessarily playing mad, but playing hectic. Playing with intentionality of being disruptive.

"And finally, fun explains itself. This is a game. The players should be having fun. The coaches should be having fun. The fans should be having fun. If we're playing the game the right way, it's going to be fun."

Twenty Spot
Junior guard Savannah Tucker wasted no time dropping 20 points as she kicked off the 2023-24 season scoring a career-high 25 points against Biola. Just last week at No. 5 Texas, Tucker went off again for 22 points to lead all scorers. The performance marked the third 20-plus point showing of her career as she previously dropped 20 at UC Riverside on March 5, 2022 during her freshman campaign. Now as a junior, Tucker has started in every game thus far and is the Beach's leading scorer with 16.2 points per game.

Do You Need Some Assistance?
Junior guard Patricia Chung opened the 2023-24 campaign setting a new career-high as she dished out eight assists against Biola on November 8. She has since racked up 18 helpers to average 3.0 assists per game to rank eighth in The Big West. In addition, Chung also contributes 6.8 points per game and 3.5 rebounds per game, to go along with three steals.

Block Party
After playing in just two games last year, before her season was cut short due to injury, sophomore Davai Matthews has come back stronger than ever. The Detroit, Mich., native posted a career-high six blocks at Fresno State to bring her season total to nine. She is now third in The Big West with 1.5 blocks per game. Additionally, Matthews is chipping in 4.2 rebounds per game and 3.0 points per game on the year.

Team Identity
LB Grit has been long associated with the Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program. However, when asked to describe her team's identity, Coach Wright was quick to say, "Gritty. Scrappy. Chippy." She went on to explain that her current team is filled with physical players who "get in there and tangle up, and talk their talk." Wright likes the hard-nosed, blue collar style of play her team has on the court. "Those three words explain the personality of this team. And you've got to be that way. If you're going to be running fast, shooting these shots, and guarding hard, you've got to play with a little chip on your shoulder."

Pack The Pyramid
Long Beach State Women's Basketball is looking to Pack the Pyramid this year and set new attendance records inside the 'Mid. This year's staff and players are excited for the new team look, new style of play, and all around brand new identity. Junior guard Savannah Tucker thinks the Beach fans "can expect to see us get up and down the court, have lots of energy, and just get out there and have fun. It's a fun game to play and it's going to be a fun game to watch."

Adding to that, sophomore forward Abby Shoff said, "I feel like we're gelling great. We have a true sisterhood. It's a real family-like atmosphere. I'm very grateful. I'm looking forward to creating new memories with this team. I think we'll have a great season!"

Wright wants fans to Pack the Pyramid all season long. "Come out and see us play. Give us a chance. I understand there's a lot going on in this area, but I promise you, you will be entertained. You will want to be a part of what we're building here at Long Beach State."

Next Up
Following the Beach Classic, Long Beach State will welcome San Francisco to the Walter Pyramid on Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.