From Reports By LBSU’s Andrea Ohta
The Long Beach State women’s basketball team (3-12, 0-4) made a season-high 10 three-pointers on a single-game school record 33 attempts from behind the arc, but dropped a 55-54 heartbreaker in the final seconds against UC Davis Saturday evening in the ‘Myd.
Lauren Sims led the attack, finishing 5-for-14 from long distance for a game-high 19 points, while classmate Courtney Jacob had a solid all-around performance with 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Whitney Fields chipped in nine points and eight boards, but also had eight turnovers.
In a tightly played game that saw 17 lead changes and nine tie scores, Long Beach State took a 54-53 lead after junior Brett Timmons sank a pair of free throws with nine seconds remaining, but the Aggies came back down the court and Kasey Riecks drew a foul, hitting both free throw attempts with 2.1 ticks on the clock to secure the win for UC Davis.
The Beach took its largest lead of the game at 51-44 following a 10-1 run capped by a Fields jumper at the 4:38 mark in the second half, but the Aggies quickly chipped away and tied it up at 51-51 with 1:50 left to play.
The 49ers jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first two minutes of action before UC Davis (6-8, 2-1) finally got on the board with a Paige Mintun three-pointer at the 16:46 mark. Sims responded with a three of her own on the 49ers’ ensuing possession to put LBSU up, 8-3.
Long Beach State then went cold on the offensive end, allowing the Aggies to pull within one at 8-7, before senior Kaiti O’Brien ended a 4:41 scoring drought with a layup to keep the 49ers on top. UCD eventually took its first lead of the evening with 9:53 to play as the two teams went back-and-forth before LBSU started to pull away late in the half, taking a 26-20 lead on a Melanie Lisnock three-pointer at the 1:25 mark.
Genevieve Costello would bring the visitors back within one at the break, however, as she scored the final five points of the half, including a three at the buzzer.
Mintun led a trio of double-figure scorers for the Aggies with 17 points. Riecks added 15 points, while Lauren Juric chipped in 12.
The Beach will return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 13, when it heads to Cal State Bakersfield for a 7 p.m. non-conference tilt. The 49ers will resume Big West play at Cal State Northridge on Saturday.