Long Beach, CA- It was a tale of two halves though, as during the second half Long Beach State came back out of the locker rooms swinging. The team started to slowly take control, with 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter, Long Beach re-took the lead after trailing almost the entire game, and they never looked back defeating Cal State Northridge Matadors 88-75.
Spearheaded by the tremendous play of forward Jada Crawshaw, she was tenacious on both sides of the court contributing 20 points and 12 rebounds.
“The key word tonight offensively was composure,” said senior Rachel Loobie.
Long Beach showed a lot of composure during that final stretch of the game, coming up big with defensive stops, and limiting the hot scoring Northridge to only 8 points in the 4th quarter.
“I feel like just going back to our principles, they came out strong in the first half, but our coaches gave us our regular principles and reminded us to come out strong and shoot our shots [in the second half],” said Guard Savannah Tucker who lead the team in scoring with 24 points, reflecting on the comeback after the game.
The night started off in Long Beach’s favor, as they won the opening tipoff and were first on the scoreboard. It was short lived however, as the Matadors quickly went on a run, taking advantage of Long Beach’s miscues to seize the lead and hold onto it into the halftime whistle. By the time the halftime buzzer rang, Long Beach found itself in a hole, down 45-32.
The win brings Long Beach record to 11-6 overall, and 7-1 in the Big West conference, and leaves them in second place on the table.
This dramatic showdown at home Long Beach State women’s basketball team showcasing their mental fortitude and resilience as they fought back from a big deficit to overcome Northridge. The victory makes it two in a row for Long Beach.
Long Beach returns to action on Saturday January 25th, as they host the Cal Poly Mustangs, and they look to carry over the momentum and make it 3 wins in a row and continue their quest for a championship.
