By Long Beach State women’s basketball powered past the Pepperdine Waves 68-61 thanks to consistent shooting at the Walter Pyramid on Sunday.
The Beach jumped out to an early 17-11 lead in the first quarter that was powered by a 9-0 run, but four late Waves points cut the deficit to two with the first quarter ending 17-15 in favor of Long Beach State.
The second quarter saw another 9-0 run but it was Pepperdine this time as it closed out the half on that run and lead 35-32 going into the second half.
“It was just one of those moments where we were lackadaisical defensively, we weren’t in our right spots during the second quarter,” LBSU head coach Amy Wright said. “I think also we started to play at their pace, where we slowed the ball down and that’s not how we play.”
Both teams traded buckets in a back-and-forth third quarter where neither side was able to gain an edge defensively but The Waves were able to take the lead against The Beach 51-50.
Freshman forward Mykelle Richards was huge for LBSU as Richards’ 15 points, four rebounds and two steals helped The Beach fight back against The Waves.
“It’s just effort. I want the ball throughout the whole entire game if I could get it so I put in all my effort into the game and for the team,” Richards said.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Long Beach State ramped up its energy, particularly on the defensive end. The Beach’s defense kept The Waves’ offense in check as Pepperdine shot 3-17 (17%) in the quarter.
Long Beach State capitalized on open driving lanes to the basket and took advantage as LBSU scored five layups inside of seven minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Beach’s largest lead of the night came in the fourth quarter as they led 64-56 with 2:26 to go in the game.
Sophomore forward Jada Crawshaw stepped in and brought a spark for The Beach, contributing 12 points on 6-14 (43%) shooting and helping propel Long Beach State toward victory.
“It’s all about trusting what the coach has given us through practice every single day, looking at the shots we do have and going through with it,” Crawshaw said. “And for me, it’s for the team, whatever I can contribute is what I need to do.”
The Beach took down The Waves with a final score of 68-61, giving Long Beach State a 3-3 record in regular season play and left Pepperdine with a 4- 3 record respectively.
“The women have done an amazing job these past two days of locking in,” Wright said. “The biggest game on the schedule is the next game or the game that you’re playing so that’s the biggest game and we’re going to treat it like it’s the Super Bowl.”
LBSU faces Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 5 in its first Big West conference matchup of the season.
