Thursday, January 18
Manoa, Hawaii
9:00 PM
Long Beach State University
55
at
68
Hawaii
Beach Women’s Basketball Drops Road Contest At Hawaii
1/19/2024 1:17:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Savannah Tucker and Patricia Chung led the Beach with 16 and 12 points, respectively
HONOLULU – The Long Beach State Women's Basketball team suffered its fifth-straight loss as the Beach dropped a 68-55 decision to Hawaii on Thursday night at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center on the island.
The Beach (6-11, 1-6 Big West) started out strong, but the Rainbow Wahine (8-7, 5-1 Big West) pulled away in the second quarter and never looked back. The Bows outshot the Beach 43.6 percent to 31.0 percent from the field. However, LBSU held the advantage in steals (15-12), while forcing the Bows into 23 turnovers.
Savannah Tucker led LBSU with 16 points on the night, while adding four rebounds, two steals, and a block.
Patricia Chung also recorded double digits with 12 points, while leading the Beach in rebounding with seven boards. Chung also contributed two assists and a pair of steals in the game.
Casey Valenti-Paea shot 50.0 percent (4-8) from the field for nine points, while Sydney Woodley chipped in seven points to go along with five steals, four rebounds, and three assists.
The game began close as the conference foes traded points early on. The Beach held a 9-8 edge by the media timeout at 4:48 thanks to a made free throw from Cheyenne Givens. Following the break, Woodley picked up a key steal at 1:52 and ran it cross-court for a layup to tie the game at 17-all. That seemed to be a turning point for Long Beach as it closed the quarter with back-to-back layups from Tucker and Givens to put the Beach on top, 21-20, heading into the second quarter.
The Bows used an 8-0 run in the second quarter to open up a 10-point (37-37) advantage over Long Beach State with 2:24 on the clock. That run proved to be the difference maker as the Beach were unable to regain the lead. Hawaii's Lily Wahinekapu hit a three at the buzzer to send the Bows into the locker room with a 39-31 lead over the Beach at halftime.
Despite outscoring Hawaii 18-16 in the third quarter, Long Beach State fell behind by as many as 15 (49-34) in the frame after two 5-0 runs by the hosts. By the media timeout at 4:47, Hawaii led 52-39. However, the Beach weren't done yet. LBSU chipped away and whittled the Bows' lead down to six (55-49) after Chung drained a triple with 0.6 seconds left as the Beach made it a two-possession game heading into the fourth quarter.
With the game within reach for LBSU, Hawaii kicked off the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run as the Bows pulled ahead 65-51 with 5:57 on the clock. From there, the hosts controlled the remainder of the game as they held the Beach to just six points in the frame. After scoring eight-straight points to go up 68-51 with 2:23, the Bows put the game away, 68-55.
Hawaii was led by Wahinekapu who finished with 19 points, six rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Ashley Thoms had an 18-point night, while MeiLani McBee added 11 points to go along with a team-best seven boards. Kelsi Imani dished out seven assists, while Imani Perez added four blocks and three steals to go along with seven points and six boards.
Long Beach State will return to Southern California to face UC Irvine in the Black and Blue Rivalry on Thursday, January 25 at 11 a.m. at the Bren Events Center. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
The Beach (6-11, 1-6 Big West) started out strong, but the Rainbow Wahine (8-7, 5-1 Big West) pulled away in the second quarter and never looked back. The Bows outshot the Beach 43.6 percent to 31.0 percent from the field. However, LBSU held the advantage in steals (15-12), while forcing the Bows into 23 turnovers.
Savannah Tucker led LBSU with 16 points on the night, while adding four rebounds, two steals, and a block.
Patricia Chung also recorded double digits with 12 points, while leading the Beach in rebounding with seven boards. Chung also contributed two assists and a pair of steals in the game.
Casey Valenti-Paea shot 50.0 percent (4-8) from the field for nine points, while Sydney Woodley chipped in seven points to go along with five steals, four rebounds, and three assists.
The game began close as the conference foes traded points early on. The Beach held a 9-8 edge by the media timeout at 4:48 thanks to a made free throw from Cheyenne Givens. Following the break, Woodley picked up a key steal at 1:52 and ran it cross-court for a layup to tie the game at 17-all. That seemed to be a turning point for Long Beach as it closed the quarter with back-to-back layups from Tucker and Givens to put the Beach on top, 21-20, heading into the second quarter.
The Bows used an 8-0 run in the second quarter to open up a 10-point (37-37) advantage over Long Beach State with 2:24 on the clock. That run proved to be the difference maker as the Beach were unable to regain the lead. Hawaii's Lily Wahinekapu hit a three at the buzzer to send the Bows into the locker room with a 39-31 lead over the Beach at halftime.
Despite outscoring Hawaii 18-16 in the third quarter, Long Beach State fell behind by as many as 15 (49-34) in the frame after two 5-0 runs by the hosts. By the media timeout at 4:47, Hawaii led 52-39. However, the Beach weren't done yet. LBSU chipped away and whittled the Bows' lead down to six (55-49) after Chung drained a triple with 0.6 seconds left as the Beach made it a two-possession game heading into the fourth quarter.
With the game within reach for LBSU, Hawaii kicked off the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run as the Bows pulled ahead 65-51 with 5:57 on the clock. From there, the hosts controlled the remainder of the game as they held the Beach to just six points in the frame. After scoring eight-straight points to go up 68-51 with 2:23, the Bows put the game away, 68-55.
Hawaii was led by Wahinekapu who finished with 19 points, six rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Ashley Thoms had an 18-point night, while MeiLani McBee added 11 points to go along with a team-best seven boards. Kelsi Imani dished out seven assists, while Imani Perez added four blocks and three steals to go along with seven points and six boards.
Long Beach State will return to Southern California to face UC Irvine in the Black and Blue Rivalry on Thursday, January 25 at 11 a.m. at the Bren Events Center. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
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