It wasn’t pretty, but the Long Beach State women’s basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak with a 65-53 win over the University of Idaho at the Walter Pyramid on Sunday afternoon.
The Beach (4-7) watched a 13-point lead quickly dwindle down, as Idaho kicked off the second half with a 9-0 run, cutting the ‘Niner lead to 33-29 with 17:13 left on the clock.
Long Beach State answered with a 9-0 run of its own, which consisted of three consecutive 3-pointers that pushed the lead back up to 12 with 11:45 remaining.
“Basketball is a game of runs,” head coach Jody Wynn said. “They made their run and we were able to answer it at the end.”
After Idaho’s Rachelle Kloke hit a jumper, LBSU senior guard Karina Figueroa found senior forward Ally Wade down low for a layup to make it 48-36 ballgame.
The 49ers and Vandals traded buckets over the course of the next six minutes, with Idaho chipping away at the ‘Niner lead. The Vandals pulled to within three points, 54-51, after Kloke made two free throws with 4:37 left to play.
The Beach slowed down the pace and controlled both ends of the floor late in the game, holding the Vandals scoreless until Jessica Graham scored the last Idaho bucket of the contest with 1:54 remaining.
Wade led the Beach with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Wade had a commendable game on defense also, as she added five steals.
“My shot was just going in tonight,” Wade said. “It feels amazing especially when Karina and Melanie Lisnock had great passes, and our bigs were setting good screens, so it feels good to knock them down.”
Senior guard Lauren Sims contributed 16 points in the victory, including three 3-pointers. Figueroa finished with 11 points and eight assists, while Lisnock chipped in with nine points and three steals.
As a team, the 49ers shot 9-of-17 from the 3-point line.
Idaho (1-11), which trailed 31-20 at halftime, had two players finish in double digits. Kloke and Bianca Cheever each scored 15 points apiece.
LBSU takes on the California Golden Bears tomorrow at 5 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid.
“We’re going to have to play tough and box out a lot better than we did today,” Wade said about the matchup.