Long Beach State women lose heartbreaker to Cal Poly in Big West tourney

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    Long Beach State’s Ma’Qhi Berry handles the ball during their Big West Tournament quarterfinal against Cal Poly late Wednesday night at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Cal Poly won, 61-60, on a basket in the final seconds. (Photo courtesy of Big West Conference)

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    Cal Poly’s Sierra Campisano handles the ball during their Big West Tournament quarterfinal against Long Beach State late Wednesday night at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Campisano had 30 points and 12 rebounds, and Cal Poly won, 61-60, on a basket in the final seconds. (Photo courtesy of Big West Conference)

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    Cal Poly’s Chantel Govan drives as Long Beach State’s Justina King defends during their Big West Tournament quarterfinal late Wednesday night at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Cal Poly won, 61-60, on a basket in the final seconds. (Photo courtesy of Big West Conference)

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The juxtaposition of playing a great game and losing on a broken play left Long Beach State coach Jeff Cammon laughing even though he was hurting inside.

Long Beach had virtually completed a stout defensive team effort in its Big West Tournament quarterfinal against Cal Poly on Wednesday night in Las Vegas. LBSU led by one with 6.7 seconds left, drew up the proper defense for the Mustangs’ last play, then watched it all slip away at Mandalay Bay.

Cal Poly’s Abbey Ellis’ pass on the in-bounds play ricocheted off two players before ending up in the lane with sophomore Maddie Willett, who, with Long Beach’s Ma’Qhi Berry bracing her on defense, tossed up a no-look, left-handed hook shot.

“At that point, it’s up to the basketball gods,” Cammon said.

And the ball swished through the basket with 0.6 seconds left to give sixth-seeded Cal Poly a 61-60 win and eliminate third-seeded Long Beach (12-9).

“I didn’t anticipate this ending,” Cammon said. “It’s a tough way to lose and it hurts like heck. We did a great job initially. We almost had a defensive steal, and then the ball trickles to Willow. Ma’Qhi had her sealed out.”

Cal Poly (13-10) had two options on the in-bounds play and Coach Faith Mimnaugh acknowledged that Long Beach shut off both of those options.

“We were lucky to get the ball back after the deflection,” said Mimnaugh, whose team advances to a semifinal against No. 2 seed UC Irvine on Friday at 3 p.m.

It was Long Beach’s third loss to Cal Poly this season, and LBSU was eliminated from last season’s event by the Mustangs before the rest of the tournament was canceled because of the pandemic.

Naomi Hunt led Long Beach with 14 points, King added 13 points, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals, Imani Lacy had 11 points and five rebounds and Berry had nine points, three rebounds and three assists.

Sierra Campisano was a one-woman show for Cal Poly, posting 30 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with 3:06 left.

The Mustangs led 54-51 when she fouled out, but Kristyna Jeskeova (seven rebounds) scored inside and Hunt drove the lane for a score. That plus four free throws gave Long Beach a 60-57 lead with 48 seconds left. Two Willet free throws cut the lead to one. Berry was fouled with 6.9 seconds left but she missed both free-throw attempts, leading to the final sequence.

“We had chances to build a lead so we wouldn’t be in that type of situation,” Cammon said. “We really played well on defense but didn’t keep them off the boards as well as we wanted.”

Cal Poly had a 42-25 rebounding advantage in a game that had eight ties and 13 lead changes, neither team ever leading by more than eight points.

Long Beach, which led by that margin midway through the third quarter, only turned over the ball eight times while notching 11 steals. But LBSU also was only 10 for 27 on layup attempts. That misery was spread around, and it was an issue at times during the season.

“Our ladies are competitive, and they’re tired of just going in the right direction,” Cammon said. “But it is a process. You never stop learning life lessons. This one just hurt.”

Abbey Ellis had 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for Cal Poly. Willett finished with 10 points.

Replay: https://t.co/QXOBFGLyab pic.twitter.com/Ve11CxNviP

— #BigWestHoops (@BigWestHoops) March 11, 2021

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