Long Beach State Set to Host UC Santa Barbara, Travels to CSUN

Thursday, February 23

Long Beach, Calif.

4:00 PM

Long Beach State University

UC Santa Barbara

Photo by: John Fajardo

Long Beach State Set to Host UC Santa Barbara, Travels to CSUN

2/22/2023 4:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball

The Beach welcomes UC Santa Barbara to the Walter Pyramid for a Thursday contest, before taking on CSUN in Northridge on Saturday

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

LONG BEACH STATE (19-7, 14-2) vs. UC SANTA BARBARA (18-8, 11-5)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 23
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Venue: Walter Pyramid
Live Stats: BeachLiveStats.com
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Jason Schwartz
Twitter: @LBSUWBB
Ticket Website: LongBeachState.com

LONG BEACH STATE (19-7, 14-2) @ CSUN (6-21, 5-12)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 25
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Northridge, Calif.
Venue: Premier America Credit Union Arena
Live Stats: GoMatadors.com
TV: ESPN+
Twitter: @LBSUWBB

COMPLETE LBSU GAME NOTES (PDF)

Long Beach State Set to Host UC Santa Barbara, Travels to CSUN
The Long Beach State Women's Basketball team looks to extend its 12-game winning streak this week as the Beach face UC Santa Barbara and CSUN. LBSU and UC Santa Barbara will meet on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 4 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid. The Beach will then travel to Northridge for a contest at CSUN on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m.

Catch All the Action
Both Long Beach State games will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Fans can sign up for ESPN+ for $5.99 per month ($59.99 per year) at ESPN.com, ESPNPluss.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 $13.99 per month (Hulu with ads) or $19.99 per month (Hulu without ads). Fans can also follow stats updates for all home contests on BeachLiveStats.com.

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 has played two ranked teams this season so far in then-No. 18 Arizona in Tucson and then-No. 24 Baylor in Waco. The Beach suffered a pair of road losses to both the Wildcats and the Bears. Since then, Arizona has moved up for 14 in the AP Poll, while Baylor has dropped out of the rankings, but is receiving votes in the USA Today/WBCA Poll.

Earlier this season, LBSU opened the season against then-unranked Gonzaga and dropped an 80-54 decision on the road. However, since the season opener on November 10, the Bulldogs have moved into the national rankings coming in at No. 18 in the latest AP Poll.

In the Women's Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, Gonzaga leads the way, while UC Irvine comes in at No. 18. Meanwhile, Long Beach State is now receiving votes after having won their last 12 contests, including a victory over the Anteaters on February 4.

About the Beach
• Long Beach State has been on a roll, winning its last 12 contests to improve to 19-7 overall.
• With a 14-2 Big West mark, the Beach sit at the top of the league standings, two games ahead of second-place UC Irvine.
• The Beach's 12-game winning streak marks the longest such streak since the 1986-87 season.
• Long Beach State's 14 Big West victories are the most in program history since the 1990-91 season.
• After dropping a pair of games to start the conference season, the Beach rolled through Big West action having not lost a game since January 7.
• Prior to the start of the season, LBSU was chosen to finish third in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll with a total of 73 points. Long Beach was chosen to finish behind preseason favorite Hawaii, which earned 99 points and nine first-place votes, as well as UC Santa Barbara, which came in second with 84 points and two first place votes.
• As a team, Long Beach State is averaging 62.12 points per game for a scoring margin of +6.23 as their opponents are averaging 55.88 points per game.
• Offensively, the Beach are shooting 43.3 percent from the field, a mark that is second in The Big West.
• The Beach lead The Big West in three-point field goal percent defense (26.6), steals per game (11.88), turnover margin (+6.08), and assist/turnover ratio (0.96).
• This season, LBSU is averaging 29.46 rebounds per game, while adding 13.73 assists per game, and 3.19 blocks per game.
• LBSU has three double-figure scorers on the squad in Tori Harris (13.5 ppg), Malia Bambrick (12.7 ppg), and Kianna Hamilton-Fisher (10.5 ppg).
• Harris also leads the team with a 46.8 field goal percentage which is good for third in The Big West, while Bambrick's field goal percentage of 45.4 ranks her fifth in the conference. Meanwhile, Hamilton-Fisher's 44.1 field goal percentage is good for sixth in the league.
• Redshirt senior guard Ma'Qhi Berry has been a key component to Long Beach State's success as she leads the way with 102 assists, 56 steals and 15 blocks. She also contributes 7.7 points per game and 3.7 rebounds per game. Berry leads the Big West in assists per game (4.43), while ranking third in assist/turnover ratio (1.44), and second in steals per game (2.43).
• In the game at UC Santa Barbara on February 9, junior Kristyna Jeskeova, the team's leader in rebounding (6.7 rpg), steals (63) and blocks (20) suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Scouting UC Santa Barbara
• UC Santa Barbara comes into the week with an 18-8 overall record and an 11-5 Big West mark.
• The Gauchos are coming off a pair of wins over UC Riverside (63-45) and Cal State Fullerton (74-58) as they sit in third place in the Big West standings.
• As a team, the Gauchos are shooting 44.1 percent from the field and averaging 67.6 points per game, while allowing 61.1 points per game.
• UCSB averages 37.2 rebounds per game, while also adding 14.4 assists, 16.8 turnovers, 7.0 steals, and 2.4 blocks per game on the year.
• The Gauchos have two double-figure scorers in Alexis Tucker who is averaging 13.7 points per game and Ila Lane who adds 12.3 points per game.
• Lane is also the team's leading rebounder with 8.6 boards per game to go along with a team-best 23 blocks.
• Callie Cooper leads the Gauchos with 89 assists to go along with a team-high 40 steals. She also adds 4.2 points per game and 2.8 rebounds per game on the year.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Gauchos
Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara will meet for the 111th time in program history. In the all-time series the Beach leads the all-time series 57-53 and has won the last five meetings. When playing in Long Beach, Calif., LBSU owns a 34-20 record over the Gauchos. UCSB, meanwhile, is looking for their first win over LBSU since February 29, 2020 when the Gauchos defeated the Beach 54-47 in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Scouting CSUN
• CSUN brings a 6-21 overall record into the week as the Matadors are 5-12 in Big West action.
• The Matadors are coming off of a 48-44 win at UC Riverside on Monday. The win snapped a three-game losing skid for CSUN.
• CSUN started off the Big West season with three wins over Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, and Long Beach State, before dropping their next nine contests.
• As a team, the Matadors are shooting 39.9 percent from the field, while averaging 57.6 points per game.
• The Matadors average 33.7 rebounds, 10.6 assists, 17.6 turnovers, 7.4 steals, and 2.6 blocks per game.
• Tess Amundsen and Jordyn Jackson are the team's leading scorers with 14.0 and 13.4 points per game, respectively.
• Jackson is also the team's leader in steals with 45. She also adds 3.0 rebounds per game to go along with 73 assists.
• Amundsen contributes 4.0 rebounds per game, while adding 23 assists, 25 steals, and nine blocks.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Matadors
Long Beach State and CSUN will face off for the 68th time in program history. The Beach leads the all-time series, 43-24, however the Matadors have won the last four meetings over LBSU. When playing in Long Beach, Calif., the Beach lead 23-11. Long Beach State is looking for its first win over CSUN since January 18, 2020 when the Beach defeated the Matadors, 60-52 at the Walter Pyramid.

It's Been Grand
The Long Beach State Women's Basketball program has had a long and storied history. Since its inaugural season in 1962-63, the Beach have made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, two Final Four showings, while boasting 27 1,000-point scorers, four All-Americans, (LaTaunya Pollard, Cindy Brown, Kristen Cummings, and Penny Toler)and two Olympians (Pollard and Brown). With their win over UC Riverside last week, Long Beach State earned its 1,000th program victory in the 58 years of the program's existence. The Beach are now 1001-619 overall for a .618 winning percentage.

Ma'Qhi's Milestone
Senior guard Ma'Qhi Berry became the 27th player in Long Beach State Women's Basketball history to record 1,000 career points. Berry sunk a pair of free throw at UC Irvine, the first marking the milestone, as she went on to finish with a season-high 12 points in LBSU's 52-50 win. Berry has now amassed 1,043 points in her career and has moved into 25th place in the all-time record book.

Milestone Watch
In addition to Ma'Qhi Berry hitting her 1,000th career point at the Beach, Long Beach State has a pair of other players who are nearing the milestone over their Division I careers. Courtney Murphy, who played four years at Seattle U before transferring to Long Beach for her master's degree has amassed 991 points in per Division I career. With 124 coming at LBSU, she is just nine points shy of reaching 1,000 in her Division I career. Also coming up on the 1,000-point milestone is Tori Harris, who came to Long Beach State to earn her master's degree, after graduating from St. Bonaventure and playing two years at James Madison. Harris has scored 979 points in her Division I career thus far, making her just 21 points away from 1,000. Harris has scored 352 of those points in Black and Gold.

Hot Streak
Long Beach State continued its winning streak as the Beach picked up a pair of victories last week over UC Riverside (68-58) and Hawaii (48-47) to extend their streak to 12-conescutive wins marking the longest such streak since the 1986-87 season. The longest winning streak ever in LBSU Women's Basketball history sits at a whopping 23, a record set by the 1988-89 team that went 30-5 and advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

Closing in on 20
The Long Beach State Women's Basketball team is currently 19-7 overall. With four regular season games remaining, the Beach are closing in on a 20-win season which will be the program's first since the 2016-17 season in which they finished the year 23-11 overall, won the Big West Championship, and punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. In program history, Long Beach State Women's Basketball has recorded 20 wins 17 times, while reaching the 30-win plateau twice.

Success On and Off the Court
The 2022-23 Academic All-District Women's Basketball Team, selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC), was announced on Tuesday and Long Beach State boasted three players who were recognized in sophomore guard Patricia Chung, junior guard Kristyna Jeskeova, and graduate student guard Courtney Murphy. The award recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America program separately recognizes women's basketball honorees in four divisions – NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and NAIA. Chung was selected to the Academic All-District team after posting a 3.89 GPA as a psychology major. Jeskeova, a psychology major with a 3.70 GPA, earned the honors after leading the Beach in rebounding (6.7 rpg), steals (63), and blocks (20). Murphy currently owns a 4.00 GPA at Long Beach State as she works towards a Master's Degree in sports management, after having graduated from Seattle University with an undergraduate GPA of 3.77.

Adams and the Next Generation
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced Tuesday morning the coaches who will be participating in the inaugural Next Generation Institute and Long Beach State's Kevin Adams was one of the 21 coaches selected. The WBCA Next Generation Institute is a new high-level education program for experienced assistant coaches who aspire to become head coaches at the NCAA Division I, II, and III levels. The Next Generation Institute curriculum focuses on the CEO attributes needed to lead a program and be a problem-solver in today's ever-changing landscape of higher education and the enterprise of intercollegiate athletics. Adams is currently in his sixth season as an assistant coach at Long Beach State where he has been an integral part of the program's development. With Adams' on the sidelines, the Beach owns a 19-7 overall record and is 14-2 in Big West action as they sit atop the standings. Additionally, LBSU is in the midst of a 12-game winning streak, the program's longest such streak since the 1986-87 season. To be eligible for selection to participate in the program, a person must be a current WBCA member, must have at least five years' experience as a college assistant coach, and must have been nominated by their head coach. Participants will meet prior to (virtually), during (in person), and after (virtually) the 2023 WBCA Convention. The convention takes place March 31-April 2 in Dallas.

Next Up
Long Beach State heads into the final week of the regular season facing CSU Bakersfield and UC Davis. The Beach will take on the Roadrunners on Thursday, March 2 at 7 p.m. at the Icardo Center in Bakersfield, Calif., before returning home to host the Aggies on Saturday, March 4 at 2 p.m.