From reports by LBSU’s Andrea Ohta

The Long Beach State women’s basketball team avenged its loss to UC Davis earlier in the season with a 68-64 victory Thursday night at The Pavilion.  The 49ers (5-16, 2-7 Big West Conference) shot an impressive 43.3 percent from the field, while the Aggies owned a 41.0 field goal percentage.  The win ties the 49ers with UCI for last in the conference, since Irvine lost to Cal Poly last night—previously, the 49ers had been in sole possession of the dubious honor.

Junior Lauren Sims led The Beach with a game-high 21 points, while senior Kaiti O’Brien tied her career-best with 18 points. Sophomore LaTorya Barbee also finished in double figures with 15 points.

UC Davis (7-13, 3-6 BWC) jumped out to an 8-2 advantage early in the first half, but O’Brien quickly sank a pair of jumpers before Barbee tied the game with a fast-break layup at the 15:22 mark.

The Aggies wouldn’t give up the lead, however, as they went up by as many as 10 points (20-10) before Barbee’s 3-pointer with 8:43 to play ended a five-minute scoring drought for Long Beach State. LBSU would eventually even the score at 33 and 35 before Davis went on a 5-0 run to close out the period with a 40-35 lead.

Long Beach State opened the second half with a 9-2 spurt, capped by a Sims layup, to take its first lead of the game at 44-42 at the 17:50 mark. The 49ers took their largest advantage at 55-46, but Davis slowly chipped away, tying the score at 64-64 with 1:21 remaining. LBSU was able to hold on, however, sinking four of its six free throws in the final minute.

Lauren Juric led UC Davis with 14 points, while Kasey Riecks added 11.

Long Beach State will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 7, when it heads to Stockton, CA, for a 4pm Big West Conference showdown with Pacific.