Long Beach State University
UC Riverside
Long Beach State Women’s Basketball Set To Host UC Riverside In Saturday Matinee
1/27/2024 8:39:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Beach host the Highlanders on Saturday at 3 p.m. in doubleheader action with the LBSU Men's Volleyball team
LONG BEACH STATE (6-12, 1-7 Big West) vs. UC RIVERSIDE (10-9, 5-4 Big West)
Date: Saturday, January 27
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Venue: Walter Pyramid
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Jason Schwartz & Devin Hudson
Radio: 22 West
Radio Talent: Kaylee Gallagher & Matthew Dickson
Live Stats: BeachLiveStats.com
Twitter: @LBSUWBB
Long Beach State Women's Basketball Set To Host UC Riverside In Saturday Matinee
The Long Beach State Women's Basketball team welcomes UC Riverside to the Walter Pyramid for a Saturday, January 27 matinee. The Beach and the Highlanders will face off at 3 p.m., ahead of a 7 p.m. LBSU Men's Volleyball match.
Catch All the Action
All Long Beach State home games will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Fans can sign up for ESPN+ for $9.99 per month ($99.99 per year) at ESPN.com, ESPNPlus.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 $14.99 per month (Hulu with ads) or $24.99 per month (Hulu without ads). Fans can also follow live stats via 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.
About the Beach
• Long Beach State brings a 6-12 overall record and a 1-7 Big West mark into the game against UC Riverside on Saturday afternoon.
• The Beach are looking to get back on the winning track after dropping their last six contests to Cal Poly (64-56), UC Riverside (49-43), UC San Diego (45-30), Santa Barbara (69-54), Hawaii (68-55), and UC Irvine (74-59).
• The Beach opened the 2023-24 campaign with an 82-62 victory over Biola marking the first of Head Coach Amy Wright's collegiate coaching career.
• Long Beach State has had a few key wins this season knocking off Nevada in convincing fashion, 79-52, before handing Colorado State their first loss of the year as the Beach earned their first-ever win over the Rams with an exciting 77-76 victory.
• The Beach's lone conference win of the year thus far came on the road at CSUN (76-58) on December 30.
• Long Beach State's motto is to play "Fast, Furious, and Fun." So far, the Beach has showcased a fast offense as they average 66.1 points per game to rank second in the conference, while boasting a furious defense as junior guard Sydney Woodley leads The Big West in steals per game (3.25). Additionally, the Beach also brings a lot of fun both on and off the court as the team goes out into the stands after every home game for a "3-Minute Drill" in which they meet and mingle with the fans.
• LBSU is led offensively by Savannah Tucker who averages 12.5 points per game to rank seventh in The Big West. She also owns a free throw percentage of 82.9 which is good for fourth in the conference.
• Junior guard Sydney Woodley leads the Beach in steals with 52, including a career-high tying seven swipes against Colorado State on Dec. 15. She is now averaging a Big West-leading 3.25 steals per game, which ranks her ninth in the nation. Additionally, she is the team's second-leading scorer with 9.9 points per game on a 45.2 field goal percentage to come in fourth in the league. Lastly, Woodley's 2.00 offensive rebounds per game put her in seventh in the conference.
• Senior Casey Valenti-Paea had a career night on Dec. 16 against Pacific as she poured in a career-best 20 points. With her hot offensive output, Valenti-Paea is now averaging 9.9 points per game to rank third on the team. She adds 3.5 rebounds per game, while totaling 39 assists. Valenti-Paea has been consistent from behind the arc as she leads the conference with a 46.5 three-point field goal percentage. She also comes in ninth in the league with 1.88 steals per game.
• So far this season, junior Patricia Chung has recorded a pair of career-highs as she dished out eight assists in the season opener against Biola before picking up 10 rebounds against Colorado State on Dec. 15. She contributes 7.4 points per game, 5.2 rebounds per game, a team-leading 43 assists, and 20 steals.
• True freshman Jada Crawshaw has been a key component to Long Beach State as she has come off the bench in all 18 games this season and contributes in rebounding (4.9 rpg), while leading the team in blocks per game (0.94). Her blocking average is food for eighth in The Big West. She also chips in 5.6 points per game, while adding 14 steals and 10 assists.
• Joining Coach Wright on the bench this season is a brand new coaching staff comprised of Brian Rosario, Jashae Lee, and Raru Archer, while Brittany Klaman will be the squad's director of operations.
• The Beach have been picked to finish seventh in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll with a total of 45 points. Hawaii, which garnered 95 points and six first-place votes was chosen as the league winner. Meanwhile UC Irvine (88 points, two first-place votes) and UC Davis (85 points, three first-place votes) were expected to finish second and third to round out the top three.
Player Notes
• Lauren Cummings is an incoming freshman guard who hails from Billings, Mont. The 6-foot Cummings made her collegiate debut in the season opener against Biola and recorded her first career rebound. On Dec. 28, in the Beach's conference opener, she collected her first career points of her collegiate career. She has played in 13 games so far and is averaging 0.9 rebounds per game and 0.2 points per game,
• Lovely Sonnier came to the Beach after playing two years at South Carolina State. The junior guard has played in 17 games, while making 15 starts for LBSU this season. On the year, she is averaging 5.5 points per game and 3.2 rebounds per game, while also adding 13 assists, 14 steals, and nine blocks. However, due to an injury, Sonnier will be unavailable.
• Junior guard Savannah Tucker is Long Beach State's leading scorer as she is averaging 12.8 points per game on a 36.1 field goal percentage. She also adds 65 boards, 20 assists, 20 steals, and three blocks.
• Patricia Chung is averaging 7.6 points per game and 4.9 rebounds per game, to go along with a team-best 39 assists and 19 steals.
• Cheyenne Givens is a graduate transfer who has been heating up offensively. She turned in a career-high tying 19-point performance against at CSUN on Dec. 30. Givens averages 9.3 points per game, while adding 2.7 rebounds per game, to go along with 24 steals, 28 assists, and four blocks.
• Kennan Ka earned the start in the Long Beach State season opener against Biola and played in two minutes and 30 seconds before leaving the court due to a season-ending injury.
• After redshirting for the Beach a year ago, Casey Valenti-Paea made her long awaited LBSU debut against Biola and earned her first start in Black and Gold against Nevada. She turned in a career-best performance with 20 points versus Pacific on Dec. 16 night to bring her points per game average up to 9.5. She also contributes 3.6 rebounds per game, to go along with 38 assists. She also adds 32 steals and six blocks on the year.
• Jada Crawshaw, a freshman from Darwin, Australia, made her collegiate debut in the LBSU season opener against Biola on Nov. 8. She has since found her groove averaging 5.2 points per game and leads the squad with 4.9 rebounds per game and 16 blocks.
• Sophomore forward Abby Shoff has come off the bench in 6-of-17 of Long Beach's games this season and is averaging 4.8 rebounds per game. However, she will be unavailable tonight due to an injury to her foot.
• Sydney Woodley has started in all 16 games in which she's played. She is the Beach's leader in steals with 52 swipes after tying her career-high (7) against Colorado State on Dec. 15. Woodley had a solid performance against the Rams as she also set a new career-high in points (19). She is now averaging 9.9 points points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game, to go along with 27 assists and one block.
• Olivia Moore redshirted last season at Long Beach State and made her collegiate debut for the Beach in the season opener against Biola. On the year she is averaging 0.9 points per game and 0.9 rebounds per game, while totaling three assists, two steals, and one block in just over 100 minutes played.
• Davai Matthews came back to Long Beach State after seeing limited action last year due to an injury. She has played in all 17 games thus far and has made four starts. She posted a career-performance against San Francisco on Dec. 19 in which she led the team with eight rebounds and five assists, while adding 10 points - all of which set new career-highs for the 6-foot-3 forward out of Detroit, Mich. On the year, Matthews is averaging 4.2 rebounds per game and 2.8 points per game, to go along with 15 blocks, 11 assists, and seven steals.
Scouting UC Riverside
• UC Riverside comes into the game against the Beach with a 10-9 overall record. The Highlanders are 5-4 in The Big West.
• The Highlanders are coming off of a 51-43 loss to UC San Diego, which snapped a five-game UCR winning streak.
• With a 5-4 league record, UCR is in sixth place in The Big West standings.
• In The Big West preseason poll, UC Riverside was chosen to finish 10th as the Highlanders garnered 24 points.
• As a team, the Highlanders are averaging 57.7 points per game, while allowing 59.8 for a scoring margin of -2.2.
• From the field, UCR is shooting 35.2 percent to go along with 33.4 rebounds per game. Additionally, the Highlanders average 10.9 assists, 13.9 turnovers, 11.2 steals, and 2.2 blocks per game this season.
• The Highlanders have two double figure scorers in Jordan Webster (18.1 ppg) and Matehya Bryant (11.4 ppg).
• Bryant leads the team in rebounding (8.5), steals (47), and blocks (23), while adding 30 assists.
• RyAnne Walters' 41 assists are tops on the team. Meanwhile, she also contributes 5.1 points per game and 3.1 rebounds per game to go along with 20 steals and two blocks.
The Series: The Beach vs. The Highlanders
Long Beach State and UC Riverside will meet for the 53rd time in program history. In a series that dates back to the 1972-73 season, the Beach lead the all-time series 27-25, and have won the last three contests. Last season, the Beach swept the series with the Highlanders. When playing in Long Beach, LBSU leads the series 15-8.
Fast, Furious, and Fun
When asked what to expect from the Beach this season, sophomore forward Abby Shoff responded, "Fast, furious, and fun! That's really what we are. We're very energized. You can tell we're having a lot of fun out there."
Coach Wright expanded saying, "(The fans) should expect games in the 80s and 90s. A lot of threes going up. A lot of quick buckets. Playing fast is us trying to score between 8-12 seconds on the shot clock. So, we want to get the ball up and take a really good shot. We want to share the basketball.
"Furious is defensively, we want to get after you," Wright continued. "We want to create havoc on that end. We've got to have a chip on our shoulder. Not necessarily playing mad, but playing hectic. Playing with intentionality of being disruptive.
"And finally, fun explains itself. This is a game. The players should be having fun. The coaches should be having fun. The fans should be having fun. If we're playing the game the right way, it's going to be fun."
20/20 Vision
Junior guard Savannah Tucker wasted no time dropping 20 points as she kicked off the 2023-24 season scoring a career-high 25 points against Biola. At No. 5 Texas, Tucker went off again for 22 points to lead all scorers. The performance marked the third 20-plus point showing of her career as she previously dropped 20 at UC Riverside on March 5, 2022 during her freshman campaign. Now as a junior, Tucker has started in every game thus far and is the Beach's leading scorer with 12.8 points per game.
Tucker isn't the only Long Beach State player dropping 20 points. On December 16 against Pacific, senior guard Casey Valenti-Paea recorded a career-best 20 points. Against the Tigers, Valenti-Paea shot 57.1 (8-14) from the field and 60.0 (3-5) from long distance to lead the Beach. With her solid offensive showing, she is now averaging 9.5 points per game on the year.
Double-Double Toil And Trouble
This season Long Beach State has seen three separate players record a double-double. Freshman Jada Crawshaw was the first to record that feat as she tallied 12 points and 10 rebounds in her first collegiate double-double against then-No. 6 USC on December 21. Junior Sydney Woodley recorded her first double-double in a Beach uniform against her former team, CSUN, on Dec. 31 when she finished with 12 points and 10 boards in Northridge. Most recently, Casey Valenti-Paea notched a double-double of 11 points and 10 boards at UC Riverside last Saturday.
Getting Defensive
Junior guard Sydney Woodley has been on-point defensively as she leads the Beach in steals (52), while her 3.25 steals per game average tops The Big West and rank her ninth in the nation. On Dec. 15, Woodley tied her career-high with seven swipes against Colorado State to lead Long Beach State to their first win over the Rams in program history, while handing CSU their first loss of year. With Woodley leading the way, Long Beach is second in the conference with 11.1 steals per game this season.
Pack The Pyramid
Long Beach State Women's Basketball is looking to Pack the Pyramid this year and set new attendance records inside the 'Mid. This year's staff and players are excited for the new team look, new style of play, and all around brand new identity. Junior guard Savannah Tucker thinks the Beach fans "can expect to see us get up and down the court, have lots of energy, and just get out there and have fun. It's a fun game to play and it's going to be a fun game to watch."
Adding to that, sophomore forward Abby Shoff said, "I feel like we're gelling great. We have a true sisterhood. It's a real family-like atmosphere. I'm very grateful. I'm looking forward to creating new memories with this team. I think we'll have a great season!"
Wright wants fans to Pack the Pyramid all season long. "Come out and see us play. Give us a chance. I understand there's a lot going on in this area, but I promise you, you will be entertained. You will want to be a part of what we're building here at Long Beach State."
Next Up
Long Beach State is set to host Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday, February 1 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
