Long Beach State women’s basketball defeated Bakersfield 66-55 at the Walter Pyramid to improve to a 10 game winning streak in a game where the Roadrunners seemed to have The Beach on the ropes.
Both Ma’Qhi Berry and Kianna Hamilton-Fisher from LBSU took leading roles in the match to change the course of the game.
Berry with eight rebounds and 16 points, and Hamilton-Fisher with five rebounds and 22 points both demonstrated their experience.
“Her (Berry) and Kianna they’ve played a lot of games together, they’ve been in a lot of close games, they’ve been in blowouts together and you saw the leadership that they bring to our program,” said LBSU women’s basketball coach, Jeff Cammon.
It was a special night for Berry that was sure to add to her motivation as she was honored for her accomplishment of scoring her 1000th career point with a commemorative basketball.
The Beach displayed their commitment to changing the first half score having a combined total of 19 points off of turnovers as opposed to the Roadrunners who had 15 points. That extra effort was most evident in a final quarter where LBSU outscored Bakersfield 19-4 to pull away.
LBSU shot 39.6% from the field, coming out on top of the Roadrunners who finished off the game shooting 37%.
The first two quarters concluded with the Roadrunners on top of The Beach 36-25, but it was nine consecutive points made by Hamilton-Fisher in the third quarter that changed LBSU’s outcome.
Cammon sees his team’s attitude towards the game as a factor in helping them flip the match.
“Our energy the way we attacked on both ends of the floor you know, we meet our standards of our effort and being competitive and communicating,” Cammon said.
10 consecutive wins from The Beach may be seen as a big thing by fans but to coach Cammon and his team, they would rather not focus on that idea too much.
“Obviously we’re excited, we’re growing and getting better. I think that’s the most important thing,” Cammon said.
The Long Beach State women’s basketball team (17-7, 12-2 Big West) has the opportunity to make it 11 wins in a row when they go up against UC Riverside on Feb 15. at the Walter Pyramid.