The Long Beach State women’s basketball team let a win slip through its fingers, losing to UC Irvine 70-61 Thursday night at the Walter Pyramid.
The Beach (11-14, 6-6 Big West) lost control of a 15-point second quarter lead, as the Anteaters (9-17, 5-7 Big West) clawed their way back to trim the lead down to three by halftime.
“It’s just disappointing,” head coach Jeff Cammon said. “We didn’t get it done. We have to learn from it and move on. We have to figure out a way to pull a game like this out.”
Long Beach wreaked havoc right from the jump forcing 12 turnovers, propelling it to a 16-1 run to finish the first quarter.
Redshirt sophomore guard Ma’Qhi Berry got the offense humming early with a hard drive into the key, spinning left around a defender and dishing it to senior forward Cydnee Kinslow for a smooth three-pointer. Berry finished the night with seven points, five assists and nine rebounds.
No load-management for sophomore guard Justina King, who once again played all 40 minutes for the second consecutive game while showing off a nice two-man game with senior forward Aaryon Green.
“It’s really humbling,” King said. “As a coach, the biggest way to give a compliment is the playing time. [Coach trusts] me to play me, and I appreciate that.”
Down 15, UCI wasn’t fazed as junior guard Haleigh Talbert knocked down a pair of threes including a buzzer-beater at the half, trimming the Beach’s lead to 35-32. Talbert was four-for-five from deep, finishing with 16 points.
Irvine freshman guard Jayde Cadee caught fire from deep, scoring a team-high 24 points off eight-for-14 shooting exclusively from the three-point line.
“I thought we got complacent defensively,” Cammon said. “[Cadee] had the game of her life. We didn’t do a good job of making her shoot two-pointers … she just got hot.”
Long Beach couldn’t find a flow offensively in the second half, shooting just four-for-14 as the Anteaters closed out the third quarter with a 52-46 lead.
In an attempt to scrap their way back, Berry attacked in the lane but was swatted underneath the basket by Irvine junior center Tahlia Garza who then layed in an easy bucket in transition to compound the shooting woes on the night for the Beach.
With 7:30 left in the game, Kinslow knocked down a three off an assist from Berry, cutting Irvine’s lead to 51-54, but UCI’s flamethrower in Cadee countered with a deep three of her own, sucking the life out of Long Beach’s bench.
“When the momentum shifts like that … It’s hard I think when the other team answers right back,” Kinslow said. “Especially when we’re trying to chip away at a lead that we gave to the other team tonight.”
Long Beach missed 11 of its last 13 shots to end the game.
“After a loss like that, I really want to play again,” Cammon said. “The biggest thing now is being fresh, mentally and physically.”
Long Beach State will travel to the Matadome to play Cal State Northridge on Feb.27 at 7 p.m.