Long Beach State University
UC Riverside
49er women fall at UC Riverside, 57-41
1/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2009
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The Long Beach State women's basketball team suffered a 57-41 defeat at the hands of host UC Riverside Saturday evening at the Student Recreation Center.
LBSU (3-15, 0-6 Big West Conference), which was playing without starting point guard Adelle Walton, finished the game shooting 32.0 percent from the field, while the Highlanders owned a 33.9 field goal percentage. UCR outrebounded The Beach, 43-38.
Senior Kaiti O'Brien led the 49ers with 14 points and nine rebounds, while junior Whitney Fields added nine points. Junior Courtney Jacob finished with eight points, seven rebounds and a team-high four assists.
Long Beach State jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after a layup by O'Brien. The 49ers stayed out front until Kemie Nkele hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Highlanders an 11-8 advantage with 13:09 to play in the first half. UCR eventually went up by nine at the 3:37 mark, but the 49ers scored six of the final 10 points to cut the deficit to 27-20 at the break.
Both teams shot under 30 percent from the field in the first period, but Nkele sparked the Highlanders as she went 5-for-6 from behind the arc for 17 points. O'Brien paced the 49ers with eight points and four rebounds.
UCR (9-9, 5-1 BWC) started to pull away in the second half, taking a 12-point lead (38-26) at the 11:32 mark. LBSU was unable to recover as the Highlanders ran away with the 57-41 victory.
Nkele scored a game-high 21 points for UC Riverside.
Long Beach State will be back in action next Thursday (Jan. 29) when it closes out a four-game road stretch at Cal State Fullerton. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. (PST).
