The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
Long Beach State looked primed and ready to win their first contest Saturday afternoon.
After having their game moved to the Gold Mine due to heavy rain that made the Walter Pyramid unavailable, the Beach won their first quarter of the season and built a 12-point lead late in the third period.
However, LBSU (0-4) wasn’t able to handle Sacramento State’s late-game defensive pressure as they gave up the lead in a 57-54 loss to the Hornets.
“I think we’re on the corner of something really, really good,” Long Beach State coach Amy Wright said. “Which is what we want to see, you know, it is not fun to kind of grow this way, but we’re having to grow this way.”
Sophomore guard JaQuoia Jones-Brown had a career night as she scored a game-high 29 points to pace the Beach early as they took advantage of the Hornets’ miscues and took a 15-10 lead after the first period.
“Being myself and then having my teammates around me,” Jones-Brown said about what helped her during her career night. “Just having them trust me and being that point guard for them. And just getting into my sweet spots and just doing what I know, what I can do.”
Jones-Brown kept that pressure on the Hornets (4-1) as she went on a 4-0 run herself as the Beach extended the lead. Judit Oliva Hernandez pushed the lead to 25-14 midway through the second when she drove into the lane and made a one-handed layup after she split defenders with a spin move.
Sacramento State didn’t back down as Brooklyn Taylor (Long Beach Poly) went on a 4-0 run herself which kickstarted a 6-0 run for the Hornets that cut LBSU’s lead to 25-20. The Beach held on and pushed the lead to 30-23 at halftime.
The Beach kept the pressure up to start the third quarter as Kenna Ka followed a Jones-Brown layup with a three that extended LBSU’s lead to 12 a minute into the second half.
However, the Hornets applied their own pressure switching to a full-court press that gave them momentum as they started to chip away the lead. Shortly after subbing in, Pinja Paananen hit a three that cut the Beach’s lead to two points midway through the third quarter.
“I think the pressure kicked up,” Wright said. “You know, like I said, we really only had one ball handler that was comfortable with it, so we tried to mix up some press brakes. I should have thrown it long. I was a little nervous if we could get it there, we haven’t practiced it. So I was freaked out that it would be a turnover. But hey, what’s another turnover in the front court instead of the back court.”
LBSU pushed the lead back to four after a couple successful free throws by Jones-Brown. But, after some cold shooting to start, the Hornets started to get things going as Natalie Picton hit a three to cut the lead to three. That led to Sacramento State taking a 38-37 later, but Jones-Brown gave the Beach a 40-38 lead with two minutes left in the third.
The Beach eventually took a 44-40 lead thanks to another Jones-Brown layup, but Rubi Gray hit a three to cut the lead to one heading into the final period.
The sophomore guard kept helping the Beach build leads as she got another layup to push the lead to 49-45 with six minutes remaining in the game. Khylee Pepe scored nine points for the Beach and had 10 rebounds.
However, that’s when the Hornets went on a 12-5 run to close out the game. Gray, Picton and Benthe Versteeg all scored in double figures for Sacramento State with 13, 12 and 11 points respectively.
LBSU will be back at home next Thursday when they host San Francisco at 6 p.m.
