The Long Beach State women’s basketball team avenged its loss to UC Davis earlier in the season with a 68-64 victory Thursday night at The Pavilion.
The 49ers (5-16, 2-7 Big West Conference) shot 43.3 percent from the field, while the Aggies owned a 41 percent clip.
Junior Lauren Sims led the 49ers with a game-high 21 points, while senior Kaiti O’Brien tied her career-high with 18 points. Sophomore LaTorya Barbee also finished in double figures with 15 points.
LBSU (5-16, 2-7 Big West Conference) shot 43.3 percent from the field, while the Aggies owned a 41 percent clip.
Lauren Juric led the Aggies with 14 points, while Kasey Riecks added 11.
UC Davis (7-13, 3-6 Big West) jumped out to an 8-2 advantage early in the first half, but O’Brien quickly sank a pair of jumpers before Barbee tied the game with a fastbreak layup at the 15:22 mark.
The Aggies wouldn’t give up the lead, however, as they went up by as many as 10 points (20-10) before Barbee’s 3-pointer with 8:43 to play ended a five-minute scoring drought for The Beach. LBSU would eventually even the score at 33 and 35 before Davis went on a 5-0 run to close out the half with a 40-35 lead.
The ‘Niners opened the second half with a 9-2 spurt, capped by a Sims layup, to take their first lead of the game at 44-42 at the 17:50 mark. The 49ers took their largest advantage at 55-46, but Davis slowly chipped away, tying the score at 64-64 with 1:21 remaining. LBSU was able to hold on, however, sinking four of its six free throws in the final minute.
Long Beach State will return to action on Saturday when it heads to Stockton for a 4 p.m. Big West Conference showdown with Pacific.