The Long Beach State women’s basketball team squandered a double-digit lead in the first half before collapsing in the second period as Santa Clara University pulled away with a 73-63 victory Monday evening at the Leavey Center.
LBSU led by as many 16 points in the first half, but eventually outscored, 45-29, over the final 20 minutes of the contest.
The 49ers (1-3) finished the game shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from 3-point range. The 49ers also outrebounded SCU, 43-39, but committed 25 turnovers.
Senior Tipesa Moorer scored a team-high 17 points and added six rebounds. Sophomore Ella Clark chipped in 12 points and six boards, while redshirt freshman Alex Sanchez scored in double figures for the second straight game with 10 points. Freshman Devin Hudson pulled down a team-best seven rebounds.
LBSU raced out to a 15-0 lead following a 3-pointer by Clark at the 15:59 mark. The 49ers proceeded to go up, 19-4, before Santa Clara made its first field goal with a 3 from Alyssa Shoji with 12:36 to play. The Broncos (4-1) then started to chip away and cut the deficit to 25-24 after a 9-2 run.
Long Beach pulled back ahead by seven thanks to a 6-0 spurt that was capped by a Moorer layup at the 3:32 mark. The 49ers were able to hold on to the lead for the remainder of the half as they went up 34-28 at the break.
LBSU shot 48.3 percent from the field in the first period, while holding the Broncos to 29.4 percent.
Santa Clara got off to a quick start in the second half, tying it up at 36 after just over two minutes of action. Clark then drained a 3-pointer and Mary Ochiltree had a layup to put LBSU up by four, but the Broncos wouldn’t back down as they used a 7-2 run to take their first lead of the game at 48-47 with 13:18 remaining.
SCU eventually pulled out front by four (53-49), but Long Beach came back to tie it up at 55 after a 3-pointer from Lauren Spargo at the 8:01 mark. The Broncos then outscored the 49ers, 14-2, over the next five and a half minutes to go up, 69-57, with 2:36 on the clock. Santa Clara was able to hold on the rest of the way.
Shoji paced the Broncos with 23 points, while Ruta Zurauskyte finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Long Beach will be back on the road this weekend when it heads to New York for a pair of non-conference games. The 49ers are set to face Columbia on Friday at 4 p.m. (PT) before squaring off against Iona at 1 p.m. (PT) on Saturday.
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