The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2026-27 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
The theme of the 2026-27 Long Beach State women’s basketball season will be growth, and the Beach (0-2) seemed to do a bit of that on Monday night against Santa Clara (3-0).
After a lopsided 100-46 loss at Cal last week, LBSU made its home debut at the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid, showing improvement despite an 89-70 loss to the Broncos.
“We were tested tonight,” said first-year Long Beach State head coach Minyon Moore. “And I’m extremely proud of our team and our growth bouncing back from Cal, coming in here and still showing up and fighting. We came up short tonight, obviously, but there’s a lot to highlight and be proud of.”
Sophomore forward Noemi Arvai led the way for Long Beach with a career-high 22 points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds. She was a perfect 7/7 in the first half to keep the Beach in the game, trailing 51-39, but Santa Clara was gradually able to pull away, winning all four quarters.
Senior point guard Amber Furch did a nice job orchestrating the offense, scoring 13 points to go along with a team-best eight assists. LBSU actually outshot the Broncos–43 percent to 39 percent–but the Broncos were able to rack up 20 more field goal attempts thanks to 25 offensive rebounds and 15 forced turnovers.
“We practiced shooting all summer, and I think it showed tonight,” said Moore on the biggest offensive improvement on Monday night. “Our girls stepped in and made big shots, so I think that was the biggest improvement from game one, just not shying away from our shots.”
As a team, the Beach dished out 20 dimes on 27 made baskets, getting at least one three-pointer from seven different players. Furch said that she has confidence in her teammates up and down the lineup to knock down perimeter shots.
“I say this all the time, we have amazing shooters,” said Furch. “So if I can do my role attacking the paint, driving, and playmaking, and leaving our shooters wide open, we’re going to be really, really, really good. I really focused on collapsing the defense. That’s one of my main things because we do have great shooters, and I know they can stick it.”
Kailyn Berry also had a productive night on offense, finishing with 14 points and eight rebounds for LBSU. Danijela Kujovic led the bench mob with seven points, seven boards, and seven blocks in extended minutes.
Santa Clara got a game-high 24 points from Maia Jones, who was 5/7 from beyond the arc. She was one of five Broncos in double-figures, including an impressive double-double from Emma Najjuma, who had 11 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks in less than 17 minutes of playing time.
The Broncos jumped out to a 15-4 lead to force an early Beach timeout, hitting six of their first seven shots including three triples. The Beach responded with an immediate 10-2 run, and took its only lead of the night with 1:50 left in the opening quarter on a three-pointer from Furch. That lead lasted just 12 seconds, however, and Santa Clara never looked back.
Long Beach State will be back in action on Saturday with a trip to Portland, starting a three-game road trip. LBSU’s next home contest is in two weeks, Nov. 30, against Hope International.
