By The Beach battled against the UC Irvine Anteaters on Saturday as The Beach honored their 2022 seniors for senior night.
Instead of a night that was to be celebrated for our Beach seniors, it was a night that featured a team that struggled to play a clean game.
Early in the game, it was a back and forth match as both teams were finding ways to score. As halftime approached, The Anteater offense attacked and UCI went on a 14-0 run and finished the half with a score of 34-20.
“You give up 17 offensive boards, it makes it really hard,” head coach Jeff Cammon said, while talking about areas the team needed to fix.
As the game went on, The Beach struggled with turnovers and the Ant Eaters made sure to make them pay for it.
“We turned them over, but they turned us over way too much,” Cammon said. “They got 17 points off turnovers. You know, I thought that run in the second half really, really hurt us.”
LBSU and UCI rushing to get the ball after a Beach player loses control it Photo credit: Sebastian Perez
The last few losses were due to the energy being off and at the halfway point of this game, The Anteaters took advantage of The Beach’s fatigue.
“I think the later, you know, it’s tough, when your shots aren’t falling, it’s tough to continue to compete at a high level,” Cammon said about putting the second unit in to generate some emotion. “I didn’t see the fire. I see the fight with that first unit like we typically see.”
Freshman guard Patrica Chung echoed the same sentiments about the game.
“Feels like we just didn’t want loose balls as much as our hustle was there,” Chung said. “There was a rebound and we wouldn’t get it. It was just that energy.”
The Long Beach State Women’s basketball team will play at UC Davis on Thursday, March 3 at 6 p.m.
