The Long Beach State’s women’s basketball team fell short in a tough loss against Utah State 56-48 Monday at the Walter Pyramid.
In a game that proved to be a defensive battle throughout, the physicality was at an all-time high for Long Beach (1-3). With emotions running high, the Beach struggled to execute on offense, giving up an early first-quarter lead and never finding their rhythm after that.
Head coach Jeff Cammon was visibly upset as he spoke after the game about the team’s offensive struggles.
“I thought we got impatient,” Cammon said. “For some reason, we decided to bounce the ball a little bit more than move it with the pass.”
Utah State (2-2) employed a match-up zone concept on defense, leading to the Beach shooting just 30.8% from the field overall. Second half free-throw struggles also crept up by the end, finishing 62.5% from the charity stripe for the game.
Senior forward Cydnee Kinslow scored 11 of her 13 points in the first quarter, with the Beach leading by as many as eight points.
Kinslow was only able to score two more points for the remainder of the game and the Beach as a whole could only muster 31 points after the first quarter.
“They really started to pressure our guards, and as wings, we should’ve helped out more by being a pressure release,” Kinslow said. “They started to hug the shooters more, so we should’ve adjusted and not dribbled the ball as much.”
Sophomore guard Justina King and junior guard Shanaijah Davison both struggled from the field, shooting a combined 5-31 overall and 0-9 from three-point territory.
Freshman guard Alexis Legan served as a bright spot, connecting on all three of her three-point attempts, potentially earning more minutes in the guard rotation going forward.
Despite the Beach’s 15 turnovers, Cammon said the true difference-maker in the game was battling in the paint.
“I thought in general we just got out-toughed and out-worked,” Cammon said. “It’s tough when you are allowing so many second and third chance opportunities, and I really think that’s where the game was won, in the trenches.”
Long Beach State will host Loyola Marymount at the Walter Pyramid Saturday at 4 p.m.