Behind a furious fourth quarter comeback, the Long Beach State women’s basketball team defeated Cal Poly 61-56 on Wednesday inside the Mott Athletics Center in San Luis Obispo.
The 49ers (20-7, 9-4) took their first lead of the game late in the fourth at the 3:51 mark after junior guard Raven Benton drained a free throw, giving the 49ers a 53-52 lead.
From that point on, LBSU would not allow Cal Poly (13-14, 6-8) to regain the lead or even a tie. The 49ers outscored the Mustangs 21-10 in the fourth quarter.
Three pointers and free throws were key to the fourth quarter comeback as senior guard Chantel Dooley, sophomore guard Gigi Hascheff and junior point guard Anna Kim all drained shots from behind the arc.
Hascheff would lead the team in points, scoring 13, and Kim contributed with 11.
The Mustangs largest lead of the night was 10, which came early in the fourth.
Despite a poor performance in the final quarter, the Mustangs had three players in the double digit points. Sophomore guard Dynn Leaupepe led the team with 18 points, senior forward Beth Balbierz stacked on 14 points and junior forward Hannah Gilbert put up 13 points.
Another key factor was the 49ers’ bench as they outscored the Mustang bench 29-6. Turnovers were also a factor. Cal Poly turned the ball over 23 times compared to LBSU’s 17. LBSU capitalized on those, scoring 19 points off Mustang turnovers.
Benton only scored five points on Wednesday, but it was enough to put her over the 1,000 point mark. She sits at 1,002 career points.
After ending their road trip 2-1, the 49ers will come back home on Saturday to host UC Irvine at the Walter Pyramid at 12:30 p.m.