Marina Ewodo
Carlos Puma
50
Long Beach St. LBSU 9-22
67
Winner UC Riverside UCR 17-14
Long Beach St. LBSU
9-22
50
Final
67
UC Riverside UCR
17-14
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Long Beach St. LBSU 12 12 14 12 50
UC Riverside UCR 22 9 15 21 67

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women's Basketball Beats Long Beach State to Advance to Big West Semifinals

IRVINE, Calif.—The UC Riverside Women's Basketball team punched its ticket to the Big West Tournament Semifinals on Wednesday after a 67-50 win over Long Beach State.

UCR (17-14, 10-6) will now face No. 2 Hawaii on Friday at 2:30 p.m. at the Honda Center.

"We executed well and played without any fear," head coach John Margaritis said. "We played as hard as we could to win."

The first few minutes of the game were indicative of what the rest of the game would be like. The Highlanders shared the ball well in the first quarter. The first nine points scored were by four different starters.

All five starters scored in double digits. Marina Ewodo led the team with 15 points, Keilanei Cooper had 14 points and Malou De Kergret had 13 points.

Daphne Gnago and Tianna Eaton both had double doubles. Gnago had 13 points and 11 rebounds (six offensive), while Eaton had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The team started to get into an offensive rhythm in the middle of the first quarter, going on an 8-0 run before LBSU called a timeout. During that stretch, Cooper and Ewodo made back-to-back three pointers. The team went into the second quarter with a 22-12 lead.  

LBSU had a 11-2 run of its own to begin the second quarter to cut the Highlanders lead to one point. However, the team didn't give in and were able to go into halftime with a 31-24 lead.  

While UCR started out the third quarter 1-for-8 from the field, the team finished 4-for-7 and went into the fourth quarter with a 46-38 lead.

Through the first three quarters, UCR did not have one substitution. The first sub came in to begin the fourth quarter. While the Highlanders played six on the night, the Beach played 10.

"We've been prepared the whole year with such a tight rotation. We are used to it now," Cooper said. "It didn't phase us."

Not only did the team get it done on the offensive end, the team's defense played a vital role in the outcome. UCR out-rebounded LBSU 40-23.

"I thought that they were way more physical than us," Long Beach State head coach Jeff Cammon said. "They are a very scrappy team."