Thursday, December 28
Long Beach, Calif.
7:00 PM
Long Beach State University
5-6,0-1Big West
61
vs
67
Cal State Fullerton
5-6,1-0Big West
1
2
3
4
F
Cal St. Fullerton
15
18
18
16
67
Long Beach St.
13
8
13
27
61
Long Beach State’s Rally Comes Up Short In Loss To Cal State Fullerton
12/28/2023 10:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Casey Valenti Paea leads all scorers with 17 points in conference-opener
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Long Beach State shot 50.0 (10-20) percent from the field in the fourth quarter and outscored Cal State Fullerton 27-16 in the frame. However, a slow start hampered the Beach in a tough 67-61 loss to Cal State Fullerton on Thursday night at the Walter Pyramid.
The Beach (5-6, 0-1 Big West) opened Big West action against the Titans (5-6, 1-0 Big West) and were outshot 41.3 percent – 34.3 percent in the game. Long Beach State took got several good looks from long distance, but struggled to connect as the Beach made just 5-of-27 three-point attempts for an 18.5 percentage on the night.
Long Beach State started off with an early 10-2 lead over the Titans in the first quarter. LBSU used a 10-0 run jump-started by a layup from Casey Valenti Paea at 9:22 that would eventually force a timeout by Cal State Fullerton at 6:53. The Titans regrouped and came back to close the frame on a 7-0 run, which gave the visitors a 15-13 edge going into the second quarter.
Fullerton shot 47.1 (8-17) percent from the field in the second quarter, while Long Beach struggled shooting 23.1 (3-13) percent and going 0-for-6 from long distance. The Beach were outscored 18-8 in the frame as Cal State Fullerton jumped ahead 33-21 by halftime.
The third quarter was much like the second. The Titans outshot the Beach 42.9 percent to 26.3 percent from the field, and LBSU once again was cold from three-point range making just one of eight attempts. While the Beach's offense battled, but failed to connect, the Titans used that to their advantage and went on a 10-0 run to open up a 47-28 lead by 4:47. By the end of the quarter, Long Beach State trailed Cal State Fullerton, 51-34.
The Beach seemed to come alive in the fourth quarter as they made 10-of-20 field goals to shoot 50.0 percent from the field. LBSU was led by Valenti Paea who scored nine points in the final 10 minutes of action and dished out three assists. Jada Crawshaw picked up a steal with 2:24 on the clock and passed it off to Valenti Paea who made a driving layup at 2:19 which kicked off an 11-0 run by the Beach. Long Beach State managed to cut Cal State Fullerton's lead down to five (63-58) with just 32.5 seconds remaining after another drive to the basket from Valenti Paea. Long Beach State whittled Cal State Fullerton's lead down to four (65-61) with just 10.2 seconds left in regulation after Savannah Tucker sunk both of her free throws. However, the Beach's come back was cut short as the Titans held on to win, 67-61.
Valenti Paea led all scorers with 17 points, while adding six rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and one steal. Sydney Woodley contributed 14 points to go along with six steals, five boards, and two assists. Tucker finished the game with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Patricia Chung and Lovely Sonnier tied Valenti Paea for the team lead in rebounds with six.
Fujika Nimmo led Cal State Fullerton with 15 points, while Gabi Vidmar added 14, and Eva Levingston chipped in 12. Vidmar led the Titans with seven rebounds to go along with three steals and two assists. Nimmo collected four steals, four assists, one rebound, and one block in the game.
Long Beach State will play its first road game since Dec. 6, this Saturday, Dec. 30 when the Beach faces CSUN at 2 p.m. in Northridge, Calif. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
The Beach (5-6, 0-1 Big West) opened Big West action against the Titans (5-6, 1-0 Big West) and were outshot 41.3 percent – 34.3 percent in the game. Long Beach State took got several good looks from long distance, but struggled to connect as the Beach made just 5-of-27 three-point attempts for an 18.5 percentage on the night.
Long Beach State started off with an early 10-2 lead over the Titans in the first quarter. LBSU used a 10-0 run jump-started by a layup from Casey Valenti Paea at 9:22 that would eventually force a timeout by Cal State Fullerton at 6:53. The Titans regrouped and came back to close the frame on a 7-0 run, which gave the visitors a 15-13 edge going into the second quarter.
Fullerton shot 47.1 (8-17) percent from the field in the second quarter, while Long Beach struggled shooting 23.1 (3-13) percent and going 0-for-6 from long distance. The Beach were outscored 18-8 in the frame as Cal State Fullerton jumped ahead 33-21 by halftime.
The third quarter was much like the second. The Titans outshot the Beach 42.9 percent to 26.3 percent from the field, and LBSU once again was cold from three-point range making just one of eight attempts. While the Beach's offense battled, but failed to connect, the Titans used that to their advantage and went on a 10-0 run to open up a 47-28 lead by 4:47. By the end of the quarter, Long Beach State trailed Cal State Fullerton, 51-34.
The Beach seemed to come alive in the fourth quarter as they made 10-of-20 field goals to shoot 50.0 percent from the field. LBSU was led by Valenti Paea who scored nine points in the final 10 minutes of action and dished out three assists. Jada Crawshaw picked up a steal with 2:24 on the clock and passed it off to Valenti Paea who made a driving layup at 2:19 which kicked off an 11-0 run by the Beach. Long Beach State managed to cut Cal State Fullerton's lead down to five (63-58) with just 32.5 seconds remaining after another drive to the basket from Valenti Paea. Long Beach State whittled Cal State Fullerton's lead down to four (65-61) with just 10.2 seconds left in regulation after Savannah Tucker sunk both of her free throws. However, the Beach's come back was cut short as the Titans held on to win, 67-61.
Casey Valenti Paea hits the 3 to make it a 7-point game #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/HQmf7CNOmq
— LBSU W Basketball (@LBSUWBB) December 29, 2023
Valenti Paea led all scorers with 17 points, while adding six rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and one steal. Sydney Woodley contributed 14 points to go along with six steals, five boards, and two assists. Tucker finished the game with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Patricia Chung and Lovely Sonnier tied Valenti Paea for the team lead in rebounds with six.
Fujika Nimmo led Cal State Fullerton with 15 points, while Gabi Vidmar added 14, and Eva Levingston chipped in 12. Vidmar led the Titans with seven rebounds to go along with three steals and two assists. Nimmo collected four steals, four assists, one rebound, and one block in the game.
Long Beach State will play its first road game since Dec. 6, this Saturday, Dec. 30 when the Beach faces CSUN at 2 p.m. in Northridge, Calif. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Team Stats
CSF
LBSU
FG%
.413
.343
3FG%
.250
.185
FT%
.769
.769
RB
41
40
TO
27
26
STL
13
18
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's Basketball
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