The Long Beach State women’s basketball team pulled ahead mid-way through the second half to down Texas-Pan American, 78-58, in a non-conference game Saturday evening at the Walter Pyramid.

The 49ers (7-17) have now won three of their last four games and picked up back-to-back victories for the first time this season.

The Beach shot a season-high 54.4 percent from the field, while holding UTPA to a 41.1 field goal percentage. LBSU also held a slight advantage on the boards, 32-29.

Junior Whitney Fields led all scorers with 23 points (11-for-19) to go along with nine rebounds. Classmate Lauren Sims, who had scored 21 points in each of the last three games, finished the evening with 22 on a 7-for-11 performance, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Freshman Adelle Walton had eight assists, while turning the ball over just twice.

Long Beach State got on the board first with a 3-pointer by Walton, but UTPA responded by jumping out to an 8-5 advantage at the 17:08 mark. The Broncs stayed out front until Sims hit a three, giving LBSU an 18-17 lead with 10:31 to play. The two teams went back and forth before The Beach used a 12-4 run, capped by a Walton jumper with 6:10 on the clock, to go up by seven at 30-23.

UTPA (12-12) slowly chipped away, however, and pulled ahead 35-33 in the final 30 seconds, but sophomore Ashley Bookman hit a jumper with the clock winding down to head into the break tied up at 35-35.

The 49ers posted an impressive 55.6 field goal percentage in the first half and were led by Fields’ 11 points on 5-for-8 from the field.

With LBSU leading early in the second half, the Broncs eventually evened the playing field at 51-51 on a jumper by Epiphany Smith, but Bookman came back down the court to put the 49ers on top for good with a layup at the 10:46 mark. Long Beach State’s defense took over from there as UTPA scored just seven points in the final 10 minutes, allowing the 49ers to run away with the 78-58 victory.

Smith led the Broncs with 15 points, while Rachel Hester finished with 13.

Long Beach State resumes Big West Conference action next week when it welcomes UC Riverside to the Walter Pyramid on Friday, Feb. 20, for a 7 p.m. showdown.