LONG BEACH, Calif. — Long Beach State is back at the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid on Thursday night, hosting Cal State Fullerton at 6 p.m. in a Big West matchup.<\/p>\n
RIGHT AWAY<\/p>\n
\u2022 Back in the Pyramid, the tone changed. After a tough road loss to UC Riverside, Long Beach State returned home and edged CSUN 62-61, earning a needed Big West win and reinforcing how narrow the margins are in this league.<\/p>\n
\u2022 There is no mystery about who sets the temperature. JaQuoia Jones-Brown<\/a> is on the floor almost the entire game, averaging 36.5 minutes per night, most in the Big West \u00a0and sixth in the country, and she fills those minutes with real substance. She is averaging 16.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, and brings constant physicality. Guards are not supposed to rebound like this, but she ranks first among conference guards and top seven overall.<\/p>\n \u2022 What separates her is not just usage, it is range. Jones-Brown shows up across the league leaderboard in minutes, scoring, rebounding, free throws, and double-doubles. Few players in the conference are asked to do more, and even fewer deliver it on both ends.<\/p>\n \u2022 Rosie Akot<\/a> has quietly given the Beach stability on the glass. She is averaging 4.5 rebounds per game in limited minutes and leads the team in individual games with 10 or more rebounds, including an 11-rebound effort in the win over CSUN, providing important second-chance opportunities and defensive finishes.<\/p>\n \u2022 On the wing, Kennan Ka<\/a> handles the hard assignments. Averaging just over 31 minutes per game, Ka consistently draws top perimeter matchups while contributing as a rebounder and secondary ball mover, allowing the Beach to stay flexible defensively.<\/p>\n \u2022 Ball pressure has been a difference-maker at home. Khylee Pepe<\/a> leads the team in steals and brings constant energy at the point of attack. Her pressure has helped disrupt rhythm late in games, particularly in one-possession situations.<\/p>\n \u2022 Spacing continues to develop on the perimeter. Brynna Pukis<\/a> is shooting 31.3 percent from three on the season and has already posted multiple perfect shooting games, giving defenses another shooter they cannot ignore.<\/p>\n \u2022 Rebounding remains a key battleground. Long Beach State ranks seventh in the Big West on the glass and will look to control possessions against a Fullerton group that thrives when it can turn rebounds into quick offense.<\/p>\n ABOUT THE BEACH<\/p>\n \u2022 In a Beach Reads feature from Long Beach State Athletics, JaQuoia Jones-Brown’s<\/a> authenticity and unfiltered approach are highlighted as central to her leadership and on-court impact this season, with her growth driven by self-confidence, a team-first mentality, and consistent production. Read more at www.longbeachstate.com.<\/p>\n \u2022 Judit Oliva Fernandez<\/a> has had extensive experience playing Internationally for Spain in 3×3 tournaments, an experience that she detailed for the Long Beach State Beach Reads series found at www.longbeachstate.com.<\/p>\n \u2022 Other returning players for Long Beach State in addition to Jones-Brown, Richards, Oliva Fernandez and Ka include sophomore guard Christy Reynoso<\/a>, forward Brelynn Brice<\/a> and center Haley Wright<\/a>. The trio combined for 32 games played during the 2024-25 campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Two redshirts also return for Long Beach State. Tairat Samuel-Afolabi<\/a> is a redshirt freshman from Sweden, while Lauren Cummings<\/a> returns after playing 26 games in 2023-24 before redshirting last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Khylee Pepe<\/a> gives Long Beach State some veteran experience, joining the program as a senior after spending four years at San Diego State, including one as a medical redshirt in 2024-25. Pepe played in all 35 games for the Aztecs in 2023-24 as a junior, averaging 4.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. In total, Pepe played in 95 games with San Diego State after entering the program as a high school recruit from Bishop Montgomery High School.<\/p>\n \u2022 Long Beach State brought in three high school recruits to join the team this season. Rosie Akot<\/a> is a 6-2 forward whose intensity was noted by Wright, coming from Adelaide in Australia. Morgan Mack<\/a> is a 5-10 guard from Lancaster, who finished her career as the top scorer in Hart HS history, while Brynna Pukis<\/a> was a four-time first-team all-league selection at Glacier Peak High School in Washington.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Long Beach State made two changes to the staff in the offseason. Jesse Clark<\/a> joined the program as an assistant coach, coming to the Beach from the Academy of Art in San Francisco where he was the head coach for the last two seasons, capping over 25 years in coaching across multiple levels. The Beach added Ashley Arroyo<\/a> as the team’s Director of Basketball Operations, while Jashae Lee<\/a> and Raru Archer<\/a> return for their third seasons on staff with Amy Wright<\/a> and Long Beach State.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONG BEACH, Calif. — Long Beach State is back at the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid on Thursday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-145384","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-long-beach","9":"tag-long-beach-headlines","10":"tag-long-beach-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}