Hawaii
Long Beach State Falls To Hawaii In Annual Play4Kay Game – Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State (11-15, 6-10 Big West) was led by five double-figure scorers in front of their largest home crowd since 2019. Meanwhile, Hawaii (16-9, 13-3 Big West) boasted a 29-point showing from Daejah Phillips.
Cheyenne Givens led the Beach with 14 points, while Savannah Tucker, Casey Valenti-Paea, and Sydney Woodley each added 12. Patricia Chung rounded out the group with 10 points. Woodley once again turned in a solid performance grabbing eight rebounds to go along with six steals, and one assist. Chung led the team with four assists on the night, while adding five boards, and one steal.
Sydney Woodley gets the steal and the layup #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/H0WSstPQiD
— LBSU W Basketball (@LBSUWBB) February 25, 2024
Hawaii took an early lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Bows led throughout the game allowing the Beach to tie the score only once over 40 minutes of action.
The Beach fell behind 10-2 after an 8-0 Hawaii run in the first quarter. The Rainbow Wahine then scored seven-straight to open up a 17-5 advantage, before taking a 19-11 lead into the second quarter.
Despite the deficit, Long Beach State continued to play their game and chip away. The Beach cut the Bows’ lead down to four multiple times in the second quarter. Givens was fouled while making a driving layup and sunk the and-one to bring the Beach within four (31-27) with just 1:13 remaining in the half. However, Hawaii would take a 7-point advantage into the locker room after a layup by Imani Perez made it 35-28 in favor of the Bows.
The second half saw Hawaii regain their double-figure lead as the Beach fell behind by as many as 15 (53-38) in the frame. However, a triple from Tucker with 13 seconds left, would send the game into the fourth quarter with the Beach down by 12 (53-41).
Hawaii managed to pull away in the final 10 minutes of action. The Bows opened up an 18-point lead at 3:42 after a layup from Phillips. But again, Long Beach State whittled away and cut Hawaii’s lead down to 12 (80-68) by the end of the game thanks to a jumper from Chung with 32 seconds remaining.
Joining Phillips in double figures for Hawaii, Perez concluded the game with 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three blocks. Lily Wahinekapu and Kelsie Imai led the team with six assists each, while Wahinekapu added a team-best three steals.
Long Beach State also got a strong performance from Davai Matthews as she finished the night with six points and six rebounds. Matthews also accounted for the Beach’s lone block on the night.
The Beach will be back in action on Thursday, Feb. 29 when they face Cal State Fullerton at 7 p.m. at Titan Gym. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.