From LBSU reports
The Long Beach State women’s basketball team trailed by two at the break, but was held to just 19 points in the second half as UC Riverside ran away with a 64-48 victory Friday evening at the Walter Pyramid. The Highlanders (16-9, 11-1 BWC) won their 11th straight game and moved into a tie for first place with UC Santa Barbara in the Big West Conference, while the 49ers fell to 7-18 on the season and 3-9 in league play. The 49ers will remain in 7th place.
UCR shot 42.9 percent from the field and held The Beach to a 26.7 field goal percentage, including a dismal 13.3 percent in the second half. Senior Lynea Williams tied her career high with a team-best 16 points. Junior Whitney Fields was LBSU’s second –leading scorer with nine, while senior Kaiti O’Brien pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
Junior Lauren Sims, who had scored at least 21 points in each of the 49ers’ last four games, was held to just seven points, going 2-for-6 from the field. UC Riverside took an early 8-5 advantage before The Beach used a 13-4 run, capped by a Sims 3-pointer, to take an 18-12 lead with 10:53 to play. After the Highlanders pulled back ahead, Fields poured in five unanswered points to put the 49ers on top, 23-19. LBSU then went scoreless over the next 3:24, allowing UCR to go up by a 29-23 margin. Williams ended the drought with a layup at the 4:15 mark as the 49ers outscored the Highlanders, 6-2, down the stretch to head into the break trailing by just two at 31-29.
The Beach stayed close early on in the second period, tying the score three times in the first five minutes of action. After O’Brien knotted the game at 35-35 with a layup, Roney Friend put the Highlanders back on top for good at the 14:27 mark. Friend’s bucket started a 20-1 spurt that gave UCR its largest lead of the night at 56-36. The Highlanders would lead by at least 15 points the rest of the way. Nkele finished with a game-high 26 points, while Friend added 18.
Long Beach State returns to the court Thursday, Feb. 26, when it heads to UC Irvine for its final regular-season road game. Tip-off is slated for 7pm at Bren Events Center.