Controlling all four quarters, Long Beach State women’s basketball continued its five-game winning streak by coming out victorious 57-54 against Cal Poly on Thursday.
Emotions were high in the game as Cal Poly’s women’s basketball head coach Shanele Stires and assistant coach Samba Johnson were shouting with anger and frustration as a result of the scoreboard.
LBSU Kianna Hamilton-Fisher and Ma’Qhi Berry played a crucial role in the game with Fisher scoring 15 points and Berry adding 10 of her own.
Halfway through the Big West season Berry and Fisher feel confident in their game but understand they need to remain focused.
“We need to continue to stay levelheaded to continue to win every game one game at a time,” Fisher said.
The Beach scored more points off turnovers than its opponent putting up 19 as opposed to Cal Poly’s 12.
The Mustangs were able to take the upper hand on rebounds by having 28 to LBSU’s 25
The Beach shot 47% from the field a stark difference from Cal Poly who shot just 39%.
The first quarter ended with LBSU having full control of the game leading The Mustangs by 10 points, as did the second quarter.
In the fourth quarter both teams played a tight game as The Beach only led by three points during the last five minutes of the match, forcing LBSU to tighten its defense.
Ma’Qhi Berry who was part of the defensive plays towards the end of the match, knew The Beach prepared for flare screens or pin down plays from Cal Poly.
“What we wanted to do is switch everything and stay high not like sinking and forced them to take a long three,” Berry said.
Although the final result was in favor of LBSU, The Beach women’s basketball coach Jeff Cammon admitted it wasn’t a pretty win.
“Good teams find a way to win when they don’t play well,” Cammon said. “We were just hesitant tonight for some reason and indecisive at times.”
Defensively Cammon believes The Beach did a decent job of prohibiting Cal Poly from running its offense.
“Each night we want to take teams out of what they want to do,” Cammon said.
The result improves LBSU to a 12-7 record on the season and a 7-2 record in conference play. Long Beach State will visit and take on UC Davis on Jan 28.