The Long Beach State women’s basketball team will head back to Arizona to take on Grand Canyon for the last match of a six-game road trip.
The last time the 49ers were in Arizona, the team picked up its first win of the season in a 80-72 victory.
The game has been the lone bright spot of the season for LBSU (1-7). The team has struggled since then, but will look to end the road trip on a good note with a win over Grand Canyon.
“We’re going to come out there like we do every game and fight until the very end,” head coach Jeff Cammon said. “As long as we minimize the mistakes, we have the chance to come home with a win.”
The Lopes’ (2-6) have not had the strongest start to the season either, but have three double-figure scorers led by senior guard Brie Mobley. Mobley averages 20.8 points per game and collects seven rebounds per game, while shooting an impressive 51 percent from the field as a guard and dishing out 4.3 assists. The 49ers have struggled defending quick guards, so a big part of their game plan will be to contain her.
Senior guards Jessica Gajewski and August Touchard also add 12.9 and 11.0 points per game for their squad.
Cammon continues to use a four guard lineup with freshmen center Emma Merriweather in the middle. Freshman guard Shanaijah Davison currently leads the team with 15.5 points, but only provides two assists per game. The 49ers have not been able to move the ball around all season and have heavily relied on isolation plays. Turnovers have become a consistent problem in every position, which has contributed to the low assist numbers.
“I want to get my teammates more involved and it’s been something I’ve been working on,” Davison said. “Balancing my scoring and assists is my focus for the rest of the season.”
Junior guards Cecily Wilson and Martina McCowan have been impressive on the defensive end, leading the Big West Conference in steals. Wilson leads the league with 21, while McCowan is second with 18 through the first eight games.
Thursday is the first time that the 49ers will face the Lopes in school history, so Long Beach looks to come out with a win at 6 p.m. at Grand Canyon University.