Women’s Water Polo Splits At Day One Of Brigitte Donner Daws Memorial Tournament

Saturday, January 24

Berkeley, Calif.

9:30 a.m.

Long Beach State University

4-1

Stanford

2-0

Long Beach State

Stanford

Women’s Water Polo Splits At Day One Of Brigitte Donner Daws Memorial Tournament

1/24/2026 6:24:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

Box Score

The Beach will conclude the tournament with a pair of matches against ranked opponents, No. 16 UC Davis and No. 3 UCLA.

By: Luiza Moraes - Athletic Communication Assistant

BERKELEY, Calif. – No. 6 Long Beach State started the Brigitte Donner Daws Memorial Tournament competing against the top team in the country, Stanford, but a strong second quarter by the Cardinal set the pace for the rest of the game as the Beach dropped their first game of the season, 23-11.

The Beach finished the day with a win against the USA Academy in an exhibition game, led by senior Lucy Miszewski's seven-goal performance in a 23-14 win.

Long Beach State (4-1) got off to a strong start, opening a 3-1 lead over Stanford (2-0) in the first three minutes of action behind two goals from Gaby Patenaude and one from Chiara Amoroso, but the Cardinal responded with a 3-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 4-3. A counterattack goal by Lucy Miszewski tied the game once again for the Beach before Serena Browne put the Cardinal ahead with 1:29 left. Miszewski added her second of the day late, but a buzzer-beater goal by Stanford put the Cardinal ahead, 6-5, after the first eight minutes of play.

Out of the quarter break, Stanford pressed hard on defense, forcing turnovers by the Beach, and opened a 5-0 run to lead 11-5, but a goal from senior Elisa Portillo stopped the run with 3:50 left. The Cardinal quickly answered to lead 12-6 with an outside shot from Quinn Healy, and Portillo once again cut the margin for the Beach with 1:23 left. Stanford found the back of the net one more time as LBSU trailed 13-7 at halftime.

Keeping the momentum from the second quarter, Stanford scored four unanswered goals to extend its lead to 17-8 before sophomore Rita Gurri and senior Elyana Goren got past the Cardinal defense to shorten the margin with under a minute left in the quarter. A late goal by Stanford closed the third quarter with an 18-9 score.

Shutting down the Beach in the final quarter for over six minutes, the Cardinal extended their lead to 21-9 after a 3-0 run. Sophomore Zelma Koka scored from the outside to put LBSU back on the board. Both teams traded goals to close the game as LBSU suffered its first loss of the season, 23-11.

In the second game of the day, the Beach faced the USA Academy in an exhibition match. The USA team scored first, but LBSU took the lead after Patenaude and Miszewski got past the defense. Trading goals until the end of the quarter, the Beach led 6-4 after the first eight minutes with Miszewski adding her second and Portillo, Goren, and Daniela Quinzada each adding one.

The Beach took control in the second quarter with a 6-1 run led by three goals from Quinzada. Portillo and Patenaude added one each, while Jermonie Billingsly scored her first of the day. USA Academy scored late in the quarter as Long Beach State headed into halftime leading, 12-6.

USA Academy closed the gap in the third period after edging the Beach 5-4, with Portillo adding three and Miszewski scoring her third on a counterattack to help LBSU maintain a 16-11 lead after 24 minutes.

Four goals by Miszewski in the fourth period set the pace of the game as the Beach cruised to a 23-14 win over the USA Olympic Development Team.

The Beach will face two ranked opponents on Sunday to conclude the tournament as the ball drops at 9:30 a.m. against No. 16 UC Davis (2-1) and at 2 p.m. against No. 3 UCLA (0-0). Both games will be livestreamed through Overnght.com, and live stats can be found at 6-8scores.com.