Despite a game-high 25 points from senior Karina Figueroa and 19 from Lauren Sims, the Long Beach State women’s basketball team fell to the University of San Diego, 67-60, Sunday afternoon at Jenny Craig Pavilion. The rest of the team scored just 16 points, with only 6 points coming off the bench.
Figueroa went 7-for-18 from the field and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line. Sims chipped in 19 points (7-of-10) for The Beach.
Both teams shot over 40 percent, but San Diego (6-6) won the battle on the glass, outrebounding The Beach, 36-28. The Toreros also held a commanding 19-7 advantage on the offensive boards.
The two squads went back and forth in the early going before USD went on a 9-2 run to go up 17-10. The 49ers responded with seven unanswered points, evening the score on a Sims 3-pointer. LBSU eventually took its first lead since early in the first half as a jumper by Figueroa put The Beach on top 21-19 with 7:34 to play.
Long Beach State (3-7) continued to build on that advantage, using a 10-5 run, capped by a 3-pointer from junior Melanie Lisnock, to go up 31-25 with 3:25 remaining.
The Toreros then began to chip away and a layup by Nya Mason with five seconds on the clock cut the 49ers’ lead to 35-33 at the break.
The Beach shot a blistering 54.2 percent from the field in the first half and was 4-of-10 from beyond the arc. Figueroa paced the 49ers with 16 points on a 5-for-10 shooting performance.
USD pulled away in the second half, going on a 14-2 run to go up 52-41 at the 11:29 mark. The Toreros held a comfortable lead until Figueroa completed a three-point play to cut the deficit to seven (63-56). After four more 49er free throws, The Beach trailed, 65-60, with just under a minute to play, but that was the closest LBSU would get as USD held on for the victory.
Sam Child paced the Toreros with 17 points, while Morgan Woodrow chipped in 13. Emily Hatch had a game-high nine rebounds.
Long Beach State returns to the friendly confines of the Walter Pyramid on Sunday, Dec. 20 for a 2 p.m. non-conference showdown against Idaho.
From LBSU reports