LBSU sophomore guard JaQuoia Jones-Brown recorded a career-high 19 points in The Beach’s home opener loss to Cal Baptist on Wednesday, Nov. 12. Rehansa Kulatilleke | Long Beach Current

Despite its best offensive showing of the young season, Long Beach State women’s basketball had its home opener spoiled with an 83-60 loss to future Big West rival Cal Baptist University at the Walter Pyramid on Wednesday, Nov. 12. 

After failing to reach 40 points in either of their first two games, The Beach (0-3) recorded a season-high 60 points against the Lancers (3-0), paced by sophomore guard JaQuoia Jones-Brown, who scored a career-high 19. 

However, LBSU still failed to generate an efficient offense, shooting 31.3% from the field and giving up 19 turnovers in its first home game of the regular season. 

“We are definitely of the growth mindset right now,” LBSU head coach Amy Wright said. “I saw a lot of growth in these young women from this past week into today, and you can only continue to build on it with a young team.”

LBSU freshman guard Brynna Pukis is hounded on the baseline by CBU graduate guard Chance Bucher during The Beach’s 80-63 home opener loss on Wednesday, Nov. 12. Rehansa Kulatilleke | Long Beach Current

After a slow start from both teams, CBU bolted to an 18-2 run with seven consecutive made field goals, while LBSU missed its first eight shots on the night. 

However, the Lancers went cold late in the opening period, missing their last 10 shots to open the door for The Beach to cut the deficit to 22-13 after the first frame.  

LBSU rode that momentum as Judit Oliva Fernandez, who recorded the team’s second double-double of the season with 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, scored the second quarter’s first four points to whittle the lead down to five. 

Despite the loss, LBSU sophomore forward Judit Oliva Fernandez recorded the team’s second double-double of the season with 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds on Wednesday, Nov. 12, at the Walter Pyramid. Rehansa Kulatilleke | Long Beach Current

CBU would eventually reclaim the double-digit lead in the middle of the second quarter as both offenses were deadlocked in a tug-of-war to end the first half. 

Typically unshy about outside shooting, The Beach attempted and made only one shot from beyond the arc in the second quarter. 

Removing Wednesday’s second quarter, The Beach average 5.9 three-point attempts per quarter through three games this season, but Wright attributed the change in shot diet to the team’s inside scoring ability. 

“You don’t want to take a 24-foot shot when you can get a two-foot shot, so in the second quarter, I think that’s what was happening,” Wright said. “We were able to kind of exploit little mismatches, and then they did a great job in terms of when they started to double, we kicked it out and did get that one three-pointer, so game strategy is part of it.”

The Beach scored just four points, all on free throws, in the final 4:46 of the quarter, ending the first half with a 41-29 deficit.

It turned out to be the Lancers who would end the deadlock with a 28-point explosion in the third quarter, thanks to junior guard Khloe Lemon, who scored a team-high 17 points in 24 minutes on Wednesday night. 

Lemon single-handedly took over the third period after her two made threes and layup in the first two minutes stretched the lead to 49-31, which The Beach never recovered from. 

Jones-Brown left the game unsatisfied after her career night. 

“For me, it’s just points because we still lost at the end of the day so I still have to do better,” Jones-Brown said. “Even though I got 19 points, I think now my teammates see that if we actually work as a team, everybody can have that.”

Although the offense failed to shoot efficiently, LBSU recorded its highest offensive output of the season in large part due to playing with a faster pace in response to CBU’s 79.3 possessions per game. 

“We knew they were fast,” Wright said. “You want [the team] to have fresh legs so all you can do is talk about it and then visually show it on film. It’s different to feel it.”

LBSU will continue its homestand against Sacramento State at the Walter Pyramid on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 2 p.m.