The Long Beach State women’s basketball team shook off a sluggish start to emerge with a 67-55 win over UC Irvine on Saturday afternoon at the Walter Pyramid.
The 49ers (6-9, 2-1 Big West Conference) trailed the Anteaters (4-12, 1-3 Big West), 35-25, with 11:09 remaining in the second half before going on an 11-0 run to climb back into the contest.
Senior Brett Timmons kicked off the run with a 3-point play, which cut the Anteater lead to 35-28. Karina Figueroa then drove past her defender and scored on an up and under move, reducing the UCI lead to five, 35-30, with 10: 18 left to play.
LBSU continued to chip away at the UCI lead, making it a 35-32 ballgame after a pair of free throws by senior forward Ally Wade, who finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals after going scoreless in the first half.
The Beach came up with a steal after putting on the full court press. Figueroa then found junior Melanie Lisnock on the left wing, who drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 35 apiece with 9:21 on the game clock.
LBSU and UCI exchanged baskets and the lead, until the game was tied at 43-43 with 5:04 remaining.
Long Beach State outscored UCI, 24-12, during the final five minutes and sank 14-of-15 free throws down the stretch to clinch the win.
“Our defense ignited us, our press generated some quick points, we got some steals off of it, and we just got our motors on a totally different level than we had been the first 30 minutes of the game,” 49er head coach Jody Wynn said.
The ‘Niners outshot the Anteaters 42.9 percent (21-for-49) to 36.5 percent (23-for-63) from the floor and also outrebounded them, 37-32.
After a dismal free-throw shooting game against Cal State Fullerton (44.4 percent), The Beach returned to its solid free throw shooting form, sinking 20-of-24 (83.3 percent) from the charity stripe.
“”We just had to pull it out and get a win,” said Figueroa, who led the 49ers in scoring with 17 points. “We were going to do anything and everything possible to get a win.”
The Corona native, who shot 8-for-10 from the line, also pulled down seven rebounds and added three steals in the victory.
The ‘Niners had a difficult time containing Mikah Maly-Karros, who scored a game-high 19 points and led the Anteaters in rebounding with six boards.
Junior Ashley Bookman, who scored a career high-tying 10 points and also grabbed five rebounds, said the 49ers tried to face guard Maly-Karros and not let her catch the ball, while double-teaming her if she did.
“It worked in the first half … but she got her buckets off rebounds, you can’t stop them all,” Bookman said.
Rebecca Maessen contributed 12 points in the loss for the Anteaters.
During the first half, UCI jumped out to an early 8-4 lead before Figueroa found LaTorya Barbee wide open down low to tie the game, 8-8, with 14:29 left in the first half.
The Anteaters then went on a 7-0 run after LBSU failed to score in nearly six minutes. The Beach answered with a 7-0 run of its own, initiated by back-to-back baskets from sophomore Tipesa Moorer.
Moorer, who got into foul trouble midway through the second half, finished the game with nine points.
The Beach, which trailed UCI, 24-20, at halftime committed 15 turnovers in the first half, including seven traveling violations.
Long Beach State goes on the road to face UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 14. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.