The Long Beach State women’s basketball team nearly erased a 19-point first-half deficit, but its late rally wasn’t enough in a 75-71 loss at UC Riverside on Saturday.
Sophomore Hallie Meneses sparked the 49ers in the second half with 19 of her career-high 21 points. She went 5-for-9 from the field with three 3-pointers and made all eight of her free throws.
Senior Tipesa Moorer also finished with 21 points, five rebounds and four steals, while freshman Lauren Spargo grabbed a team-high nine boards.
LBSU (9-14, 4-6 Big West) trailed by six with 24 seconds left, but after Moorer’s layup, Mary Ochiltree picked up a steal on the inbound pass and found Moorer underneath the basket to make it 73-71 with eight seconds left.
UC Riverside’s Tre’Shonti Nottingham was immediately fouled and sank both of her free throws at the four-second mark to secure the win for the Highlanders.
The loss marked LBSU’s 12th loss on the road in 13 games played.
The Beach, which shot 51.5 percent from the field in the second half, finished the game at 39 percent. UCR owned a 37-32 edge in rebounding.
UCR (5-17, 3-7 Big West) went on an 11-2 run early to pull ahead 17-5 midway through the first half.
LBSU then found itself in an offensive funk as it was outscored 11-1 down the stretch, allowing UCR to take a 39-20 advantage at the half.
In the first half, the Highlanders made 48.4 percent of their shots while holding the 49ers to 23.1 percent from the field. UCR, which had 10 second-chance points, won the battle on the boards, 24-12.
LBSU came out of the break looking like a different team as it quickly cut the deficit to 12 at the 16:19 mark. UCR stayed ahead by double digits until the 49ers went on a 13-2 run, which ended with a fast break layup by Chantel Dooley, to cut the deficit to four at 62-58 with 3:26 left.
After the Highlanders went back on top by nine, Moorer hit a jumper and Meneses drained her third 3-pointer of the half to make it a four-point game (67-63) with 1:15 remaining.
The 49ers outscored UCR 51-36 in the second half.
Nottingham led the Highlanders with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Natasha Hadley chipped in 16 points.
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