LBSU Falls To Cal Poly, 78-71

Saturday, January 25

Long Beach, Calif.

1:00 PM

Long Beach State University

11-7,7-2Big West

Cal Poly

9-10,4-5Big West

Cal Poly

Long Beach St.

Photo by: John Fajardo

1/25/2025 4:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score LBSU V Cal Poly - Box Score

Loobie leads three in double figures for Long Beach State.

By: Luiza Moraes - Athletic Communication Assistant

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Cal Poly defeated Long Beach State 78-71 in Big West women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at The Goldmine.

Cal Poly started the game shooting well and opened a quick lead over the Beach, 8-2. Jaquoia Jones-Brown stopped the Mustangs' run, converting two from the line. Jada Crawshaw and Savannah Tucker got on the board for the Beach, combining six straight points and tied the game 12-12 with under three minutes left in the quarter.

A steal by Mykelle Richards led Patricia Chung to a fast break and put the Beach in the lead. As the buzzer hit, the Mustangs got one to make it a one-point game heading into the second. The Beach shot 36.8% in the first to take the lead at the end of the first period.

An 8-0 Mustangs' run allowed Cal Poly to retake the lead, 25-18. Rachel Loobie added one to stop Cal Poly's run in the second. The Beach went on a 5-0 run, with Kennan Ka hitting a three-pointer, forcing the Mustangs to ask for time out. Loobie converted two from the line to tie the game with three minutes left, 25-25. Lovely Sonnier got on the board as the Beach took the lead for the first time in the period. The Mustangs fought back to regain the lead as the Beach trailed at half 33-31.

An electric start of the second half brought the Beach to close the gap after a fast break from Crawshaw to Ka. Loobie tied the game 40-40 with under seven minutes left after hitting a three-pointer. Both teams continued to trade points and leads, with the Mustangs edging the Beach by two points with under two minutes left. A good hustle by Jones-Brown tied the game one more time at 50. Cal Poly forced a 5-0 run to close the third period up 55-50.

The Beach shot 45 percent in the fourth period, but that wasn't enough to stop the Mustangs in the final ten minutes of the match. Sonnier opened the last period by hitting two layups for the Beach, but the Mustangs kept answering back and maintaining the advantage.

With under five minutes left in the game, Cal Poly led 66-60 and returned from time out, extending their lead. A fast break by Chung got the Beach down 68-62 with just under three minutes left. Jones-Brown cut the lead from the Mustangs, but the visitors always found an answer that did not allow the Beach to return to the game. With just under 30 seconds left in the game, Long Beach State closed the gap to trail 72-70 after Chung converted two from the line. Cal Poly forced the Beach to foul, and the Mustangs converted all from the free-throw line to control the game.

LBSU suffered their second conference loss of the season as the Beach (11-7, 7-2 Big West) were led by Loobie, who had 13 points and nine rebounds. JaQuoia Jones-Brown added 12 points, and Tucker scored 10. The Mustangs shot 46.2% (30-of-65) from the floor.

Cal Poly was paced by Annika Shah, who scored a game-high 24 points. The Mustangs (9-10, 4-5 Big West) outscored Long Beach State in the paint 42-28. Cal Poly went 15-of-16 from the free throw line compared to 16-of-22 for LBSU.

The Beach will head to UC Irvine (13-5, 7-1) on Thursday night for the season's first Black and Blue Rivalry game. The action will be live on ESPN+ beginning at 6 p.m.