Wednesday, December 6
Austin, Texas
5:00 PM
Long Beach State University
62
at
106
Texas
Photo by: Alex Gomez
Savannah Tucker Leads All Scorers In Long Beach State’s Road Loss At No. 5 Texas
12/6/2023 9:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Tucker scored 22 points, with five threes, in the Beach’s setback against the Longhorns
AUSTIN – Long Beach State came into the Moody Center Wednesday night and was led by junior Savannah Tucker who led all scorers with 22 points. However, No. 5 Texas still managed to overpower the Beach, 106-62.
The Beach (3-3) started out slow and fell behind early as the Longhorns (10-0) held a commanding 57-18 advantage by halftime. However, Long Beach State turned in a strong second half and outscored Texas in the fourth quarter (25-19).
Texas got on the board first on a quick layup from Shaylee Gonzales at 9:55. Long Beach got their first points of the game on a three from Tucker at 8:11 to make it 5-3. The triple from Tucker would be the first of five from the junior out of Fresno, Calif., as she would go on to finish the game just three points shy of her career-high (25).
The Longhorns used a 7-0 run to take a 14-5 lead over the Beach by the media timeout (4:58) in the first quarter. From there, Texas went on an 8-0 run to close the frame leading Long Beach, 24-9.
Long Beach State was held scoreless for the final 2:30 of the first quarter and the first 5:23 of the second as Texas opened up a 37-9 lead after tallying 13-straight points. Despite the deficit, the Beach fought back and ended the scoring drought with back-to-back layups from Tucker and Sydney Woodley (37-13). After another scoring run by the Longhorns, Tucker drained another three with just 22.8 seconds remaining in the first half as LBSU went into the locker room trailing, 57-18.
Tucker came out hot in the third quarter connecting on 4-of-5 field goals and going 3-for-3 from long distance. The junior guard finished the frame with 12 points to lead all scorers and help the Beach shoot 42.9 percent (6-14) from the field. Her solid shooting breathed life into Long Beach State as they went into the fourth quarter and outscored the Longhorns, 25-19.
The Beach used on 8-0 run in the fourth quarter, as Abby Shoff led the way with four points in that span. Despite Long Beach State's 45.0 field goal percentage (9-20) in the final 10 minutes of action, the Beach were unable to overcome the already large deficit from the first half as they fell, 106-62, to the Longhorns.
Tucker finished the game with 22 points as she went 8-for-16 from the field and 5-for-7 from three-point ranger. She also led the team with three steals, while adding two rebounds, and one assist.
Lovely Sonnier grabbed five rebounds, while chipping in eight points, two steals, and two assists. Meanwhile, Casey Valenti Paea dished out three assists to go along with four points, two boards, and one assist. Shoff and Jada Crawshaw each recorded seven points and four rebounds.
Texas was led by Taylor Jones who finished with a double-double (21 points, 10 rebounds). Also scoring in double-figures for the Longhorns were Rori Harmon (17 points), Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda (16 points), and Khadijah Faye (10 points). Harmon also added six steals, four boards, and one assist, without committing a turnover. Madison Booker led the Longhorns with seven assists to go along with eight points, five rebounds, and three steals.
More than just an exciting game against a Top 5 opponent, the contest also was a tale of two coaches. First-year Long Beach State Head Coach Amy Wright went up against veteran Texas Head Coach Vic Schaefer, who was the associate head coach at Arkansas from 1997-03 while Wright was the team's starting point guard.
The game at Texas closes a four-game road trip for Long Beach State. LBSU will return to the Walter Pyramid to host the Beach Classic as they welcome Colorado State, Pacific, and UC Irvine on Friday, Dec. 15 and Saturday, Dec. 16. All games of the Beach Classic will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
The Beach (3-3) started out slow and fell behind early as the Longhorns (10-0) held a commanding 57-18 advantage by halftime. However, Long Beach State turned in a strong second half and outscored Texas in the fourth quarter (25-19).
Texas got on the board first on a quick layup from Shaylee Gonzales at 9:55. Long Beach got their first points of the game on a three from Tucker at 8:11 to make it 5-3. The triple from Tucker would be the first of five from the junior out of Fresno, Calif., as she would go on to finish the game just three points shy of her career-high (25).
The Longhorns used a 7-0 run to take a 14-5 lead over the Beach by the media timeout (4:58) in the first quarter. From there, Texas went on an 8-0 run to close the frame leading Long Beach, 24-9.
Long Beach State was held scoreless for the final 2:30 of the first quarter and the first 5:23 of the second as Texas opened up a 37-9 lead after tallying 13-straight points. Despite the deficit, the Beach fought back and ended the scoring drought with back-to-back layups from Tucker and Sydney Woodley (37-13). After another scoring run by the Longhorns, Tucker drained another three with just 22.8 seconds remaining in the first half as LBSU went into the locker room trailing, 57-18.
Tucker came out hot in the third quarter connecting on 4-of-5 field goals and going 3-for-3 from long distance. The junior guard finished the frame with 12 points to lead all scorers and help the Beach shoot 42.9 percent (6-14) from the field. Her solid shooting breathed life into Long Beach State as they went into the fourth quarter and outscored the Longhorns, 25-19.
The Beach used on 8-0 run in the fourth quarter, as Abby Shoff led the way with four points in that span. Despite Long Beach State's 45.0 field goal percentage (9-20) in the final 10 minutes of action, the Beach were unable to overcome the already large deficit from the first half as they fell, 106-62, to the Longhorns.
Tucker finished the game with 22 points as she went 8-for-16 from the field and 5-for-7 from three-point ranger. She also led the team with three steals, while adding two rebounds, and one assist.
Lovely Sonnier grabbed five rebounds, while chipping in eight points, two steals, and two assists. Meanwhile, Casey Valenti Paea dished out three assists to go along with four points, two boards, and one assist. Shoff and Jada Crawshaw each recorded seven points and four rebounds.
Texas was led by Taylor Jones who finished with a double-double (21 points, 10 rebounds). Also scoring in double-figures for the Longhorns were Rori Harmon (17 points), Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda (16 points), and Khadijah Faye (10 points). Harmon also added six steals, four boards, and one assist, without committing a turnover. Madison Booker led the Longhorns with seven assists to go along with eight points, five rebounds, and three steals.
More than just an exciting game against a Top 5 opponent, the contest also was a tale of two coaches. First-year Long Beach State Head Coach Amy Wright went up against veteran Texas Head Coach Vic Schaefer, who was the associate head coach at Arkansas from 1997-03 while Wright was the team's starting point guard.
The game at Texas closes a four-game road trip for Long Beach State. LBSU will return to the Walter Pyramid to host the Beach Classic as they welcome Colorado State, Pacific, and UC Irvine on Friday, Dec. 15 and Saturday, Dec. 16. All games of the Beach Classic will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
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