Beach Women’s Basketball Takes Down Hawaii on the Road, 48-47

Saturday, February 18

Honolulu, Hawaii

9:00 PM

Long Beach State University

19-7,14-2Big West

Hawaii

11-13,9-6Big West

Long Beach St.

Hawaii

Photo by: Alyssa Gonzalez

Beach Women’s Basketball Takes Down Hawaii on the Road, 48-47

2/19/2023 12:09:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Courtney Murphy made a pair of free throws in the final second of action to lead LBSU to its 12th-straight victory

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Box Score (PDF)

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Long Beach State trailed Hawaii by one (47-46) with one second remaining in regulation when Courtney Murphy drew a foul and sunk both free throws to give the Beach their first road win, 48-47, over the Rainbow Wahine since 1995 as LBSU extended its winning streak to 12 games.

The Beach (19-7, 14-2 Big West) have now won 14 games in The Big West, the most since LBSU went 15-3 in conference action during the 1990-91 season. Additionally, Long Beach State's 12-game winning streak is the longest such streak since the program strung 13-striaght wins together during the 1986-87 season.

Despite being outshot, 40.5 percent to 32.1 percent, by the Rainbow Wahine (11-13, 9-6 Big West), the Beach did what they've been doing. They found a way to win. LBSU shot just 27.3 percent from the field in the final quarter, but was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line and forced the Bows into six turnovers, while limiting them to just seven points in the frame as the Beach edged Hawaii for the victory.

The game was a battle throughout as the conference foes found themselves tied up at 9-9 at the end of the first quarter. A strong second quarter from the Beach gave LBSU a five-point advantage (26-21) at halftime.

Neither team led by more than nine points through the 40 minutes of action as LBSU held their largest lead (24-15) at 5:29 in the second quarter after a trey from Patricia Chung.

Hawaii turned in their best performance in the third quarter as the Bows used a 9-0 run to even the score at 26-all with 8:58 on the clock. The Bows found their grove as they connected on 7-of-10 field goals and made 4-of-6 three-pointers to outscore Long Beach State 19-11 in the frame and take a three-point (40-37) lead heading into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter was a nail-biter that went down to the wire. Neither team led by more than three-points in the frame. With less than one minute remaining, Hawaii took its largest lead of the quarter after Kallin Spiller took advantage of a Beach turnover and made a layup to put the Bows up 47-44. Despite not much time left on the clock, Long Beach held its composure and Tori Harris brought the Beach within one (47-46) with a layup of her own with 41 seconds left to play.

Still down by one, Spiller fouled Murphy with one second remaining. Murphy went to the line for the first time of the night and knocked down both free throws to give LBSU the lead. Hawaii had the final possession and inbounded the ball as Malia Bambrick came up with a huge steal to secure the Beach victory.

Bambrick played all 40 minutes of action and finished with 12 points on 60 percent shooting (6-10). Kianna Hamilton-Fisher finished with nine points, while Harris added eight, and Ma'Qhi Berry recorded seven. Berry also led the team with eight rebounds, while adding three assists and three steals. Hamilton-Fisher also chipped in three assists and three steals for LBSU.

Lily Wahinekapu led all scorers with 21 points, while Spiller finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.

Long Beach State brings its winning streak back home to host UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.