The Long Beach State women’s basketball team will continue its six-game home slate, and look to extend its five-game win streak when it faces California at the Walter Pyramid on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The Bears (7-1) will go into Saturday’s game ranked No. 10 in the country. They are ranked first in the country in field-goal percentage, second in assists and third in points per game.
LBSU head coach Jody Wynn joked that to prepare for Cal, she is going to need “a few more bodies.”
“They are one of the top programs in the nation and went to the Final Four two years ago,” Wynn said. “They have got two players who are [potential] national players of the year.”
Those two Cal players are seniors Reshanda Gray and Brittany Boyd. Gray leads her squad in scoring, averaging 20.2 points per game, and she is third in the nation in field-goal percentage at 70.5. Boyd is second in the nation in assists at 8.8 per game.
Last season, when the two teams faced each other, the Bears defeated the 49ers 70-51. The 49ers were outrebounded 57 to 38 and shot just 18.2 percent in the first half.
LBSU junior center Devin Hudson, the 49ers’ leading rebounder (8.1 per game) and blocker (12 total).
“If we keep doing what we’re doing, and practice going hard, I think we will be fine,” Hudson said. “I just think we need to go hard in practice and against them, do what we do and not succumb to how they play.”
The 49ers (7-1) are tied for first with Cal State Northridge in the Big West Conference, while Cal is second in the Pac-12 behind Oregon State. But the Bears suffered their first loss on Saturday against the Kansas City Jayhawks.
The Beach will face the Golden Bears in the Walter Pyramid on Saturday at 4 p.m.