When the Long Beach State women’s basketball team began its four-game road trip 10 days ago with a decisive 14-point victory, it probably didn’t envision losing its next three contests.
Nonetheless, reality sank in when Pacific used a 9-0 run with just under five minutes to play to hand the 49ers their third consecutive loss, 76-65, at the Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton on Saturday.
Freshman guard Sendy Valles paced the ‘Niners (3-16, 1-5 Big West Conference) with a career-high 16 points — all of which came in the second half — on 5-of-7 from the field, while Brandi Henton added 14.
Meanwhile, five players scored in double-figures for the Tigers (5-13, 2-3 Big West). Kendall Rodriguez led the way for Pacific with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Erica McKenzie scored 12.
After holding a three-point edge, 59-56, Pacific broke the game open after scoring nine unanswered points to take a 12-point lead with a 1:23 left to play. In that span, LBSU committed four turnovers and two costly fouls as Rodriguez capped the surge with four consecutive free-throws.
Despite registering 27 turnovers to the Niners’ 18, the Tigers dominated on the glass with a 42-28 advantage.
After trailing by three points, 21-18, at the 9:28 mark in the first half, The Beach failed to convert on a single shot for the next four minutes, igniting a 12-1 run for Pacific.
In that span, LBSU committed six of its 13 first-half fouls and placed the Tigers in the double-bonus for the rest of the period. As a result, Pacific took 11 attempts from the free-throw line and converted on eight of them.
Making matters worse, LBSU head coach Jody Wynn was issued a technical foul with 6:18 remaining in the period after arguing with officials for not calling a foul on Pacific when Henton drew contact.
The Tigers matched their largest lead of the contest, 36-23, after Christina Thompson completed a four-point play with just over three minutes left in the period.
However, the 49ers responded by closing out the half with a 9-2 run that was capped by a 3 from Lyndsey Heard with 12 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to six.
The ‘NIners finished with a lowly 38.6 percent from the field (22-of-57), while Pacific shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48) and hit 8-of-18 attempts from long distance (44.4 percent).
LBSU continues Big West play on Wednesday as it will play host to Cal State Fullerton at the Walter Pyramid. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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