After losing two straight road games, the Long Beach State women’s basketball team will return to the Walter Pyramid to host Hawaii and Cal State Northridge with hopes of improving its conference record.
LBSU (11-10, 4-5 Big West Conference) holds an impressive 10-3 record at the Pyramid but is just 1-7 on the road. A pair of losses against UC Davis and Pacific in last week’s two-game Northern California road trip pushed The Beach under .500 in conference play for the second time this season.
The 49ers, who now sit at sixth in the conference standings, are struggling mightily to hold onto the ball. Their 19.9 turnovers per game have helped them to a conference-worst -2.24 turnover margin.
Admittedly frustrated with her team’s inability to take better care of the ball, LBSU head coach Jody Wynn said controlling tempo and staying composed are prerequisites to limiting turnovers.
“We have to slow the game down in our minds,” Wynn said. “We’re asking kids who’ve never handled the ball to handle the ball. We put a lot on their shoulders. We just have to slow the game down and be more aware of what surrounds us.”
On a brighter note, LBSU has gradually improved its rebounding on both ends.
The Beach out-rebounded its opponents in four of its last five games, thanks in large part to sophomore center Devin Hudson, who averaged 11.2 rebounds per game during that span. After struggling early on, Hudson is now averaging 8.4 points and eight rebounds per game for the season.
“We understand the value of rebounding now,” Wynn said. “We’ve won some games because we were rebounding. We lost some games because we weren’t rebounding. There’s a pretty direct correlation between games we’ve won and the number of rebounds we’ve gotten.”
Off to a 6-3 start in the Big West this season, Hawaii is coming off a 65-53 victory at Cal State Northridge, which put the Rainbow Wahine in a tie for second place in the conference.
The victory at CSUN was an emotional one for Hawaii, as it earned head coach Laura Beeman her 400th career win.
In last month’s contest, the Rainbow Wahine defeated the 49ers 65-57 at the Stan Sheriff Center behind Kamilah Martin’s 27 points and 13 rebounds. They will look to repeat their success at the Pyramid, where the ‘Niners have proven to be significantly stronger.
Wynn is a big admirer of Martin, who leads Hawaii with seven double-doubles on the year. Wynn said she believes the ‘Niners will have to lock in on containing her on both ends throughout the game.
“We have to know where [Martin] is on every possession,” Wynn said. “We need to make sure we don’t set her free on grabbing rebounds and make sure we play tougher than her.”
Two days later, LBSU will take on the preseason Big West favorite in CSUN (7-3, 5-4 Big West). The Matadors have failed to live up to the hype thus far, as they have only managed a .556 winning percentage in conference play and currently sit in a tie for fourth place with UC Santa Barbara.
CSUN will enter its weekend slate of games on a two-game losing streak of its own. Before taking on The Beach, it will travel to UC Irvine to face the Big West basement-dwelling Anteaters.
The Matadors are led by Ashley Guay and Marta Masoni, who average a combined for 25.8 points per game.
The showdown between LBSU and Hawaii will tip off tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Saturday’s contest against CSUN will begin at 4 p.m.