LONG BEACH, Calif. — The No. 19 UC Santa Barbara Women's Water Polo team (13-8, 0-1 Big West) opened conference play at No. 7 Long Beach State (8-8, 1-0 Big West) on Saturday. Bella Mady shone in her Big West debut for the Gauchos, tallying three goals as the Blue and Gold put together a solid second half, but it was not enough as the Beach came away with an 11-6 win.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mady wasted little time introducing herself to The Big West, scoring the first goal of the game to open up the first quarter. However, the Gauchos were not able to crack the Beach defense again until the third quarter, with the hosts holding a 5-1 lead at halftime.
 
Annie Kuester's third-quarter score made it 6-2 less than two minutes into the frame, but Long Beach continued to stay just ahead of Santa Barbara's output, going up 8-2 by the four-minute mark. Jojo Scheer answered back with a goal, but Long Beach scored shortly after to make it 9-3.
 
Mady created a mini-rally all by herself, scoring 15 seconds before the end of the third and again 30 seconds into the fourth, cutting the Beach's lead to four goals at 9-5. Long Beach re-extended that advantage to 11-5, but Kuester scored her second of the game with just over five minutes left to bring the Gauchos back within five. Santa Barbara's defense shut down the Beach offense over those final five minutes, but the Gaucho offense just could not muster the goals necessary for a rally.
 
UP NEXT
After nearly a month and a half on the road, the Gauchos return to Santa Barbara next weekend, hosting a pair of crucial Big West matches. The Gauchos will take on No. 3 Hawai'i on Friday, March 7 and No. 13 UC Davis at 12 noon on Sunday, March 9. Both games will be played at Santa Barbara High School, where attendance is free and open until the venue's capacity is reached. Both games will also be live on ESPN+ with live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com/WWPLiveStats.