For the first time in over a decade, the 49ers won’t be playing in the Big West Tournament.  The Long Beach State women’s basketball team was unable to pull off an upset against Big West regular-season champion UC Santa Barbara on senior night as the 49ers fell, 74-62, Saturday evening at the Walter Pyramid.

With Cal State Northridge and UC Irvine both winning their games, LBSU’s season comes to an end, failing to advance to the Conference Tourney for the first time since the 1997-98 campaign.

The 49ers shot just 37.7 percent from the field compared to 54.0 percent for UCSB. Junior Whitney Fields, who entered the game with three-straight double-doubles, scored a team-high 14 points (50.0 percent), while pulling down eight rebounds. Sophomore LaTorya Barbee added 12 points. 

Long Beach State took its first advantage of the game when a Barbee jumper put the 49ers on top 4-3 at the 16:49 mark. After The Beach went up one more time, UCSB regained control for the remainder of the half. The Gauchos would lead by as many as nine, but LBSU battled back, using a 9-2 spurt, capped by a pair of Barbee free throws, to pull within one at 28-27 with 4:07 on the clock. The 49ers were then held to just one basket over the final 3:15, allowing UCSB to go up by five (34-29) at intermission.

Fields was limited to just two minutes in the first half due to foul trouble.

The Gauchos (20-9, 15-1 BWC) came out of the break on fire going on a 22-9 run over the first eight minutes to take a commanding 56-38 advantage. The 49ers made it interesting late in the second half, closing the gap to 62-56 with 1:55 to play, but UCSB’s solid free throw shooting down the stretch sealed the win for the visitors.

Lauren Pedersen led UC Santa Barbara with a game-high 15 points, while Sha’Rae Gibbons added 14. Jordan Franey also finished in double figures with 10 points.

Long Beach State ends its season with an 8-21 overall record and a 4-12 mark in Big West action.

From LBSU reports