The Long Beach State women’s basketball team dropped its first Big West game of the season to conference favorite UC Davis on Friday evening. The Beach’s nationally-ranked defense played well enough, but a 3/22 3-point shooting performance highlighted their offensive woes in a 67-52 loss.
“There was a lid on the rim,” said Long Beach State coach Jeff Cammon. “If you would have told me Justina King would be 1/10 and Jasmine Hardy would be 2/7 I don’t know if I’d believe you. We just couldn’t put the ball in the hole.”
Davis’ length bothered the Beach’s offense and also posed problems on the defensive end of the floor. Long Beach had 14 steals but scored just 11 points off turnovers due to their struggles in the halfcourt offense.
“A team like this, they put pressure on you, we had too many breakdowns on the defensive end,” said Cammon.
Ma’Qhi Berry led the Beach with 18 points backed up by 14 from Kianna Hamilton-Fisher. Cierra Hall led the Aggies with 17 points.
The loss is the team’s first since before Christmas, as their only other blemish this season was a loss at USC in December. The Beach are now 10-1 in conference, and will have to bounce back quickly for a rematch with the Aggies on Saturday at 4 p.m.
“This is the first time we’ve faced this type of adversity,” said Cammon. “We have to get back to our basics and who we are. We’ll be fine. Really it’s just, hey this game is over, let’s focus on the next game.”
