Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
19-3, 6-2
UC Irvine
4-19, 1-7
LBSU Women's Basketball Downs UC Irvine, 62-46
2/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Box Score (html) | Box Score (PDF)
IRVINE, Calif. - The Long Beach State women's basketball team got off to a hot start and never looked back as it defeated UC Irvine, 62-46, Thursday evening at the Bren Events Center.
The Beach improved to 19-3 overall and 6-2 in Big West play. It is one victory away from the program's first 20-win season in 15 years. This was also LBSU's first win at the Bren Events Center since 2009.
The 49ers opened the game by making their first four 3-point attempts and finished the contest going 11-for-29 (37.9 percent) from behind the arc. They also shot 38.7 percent from the floor.
Senior Lauren Spargo led the charge as she was 4-for-8 from long distance for a team-best 16 points. Classmate Alex Sanchez also had 12 points, all of which came in the first half, while senior Hallie Meneses added nine points and a game-high six assists.
Junior Devin Hudson and sophomore Jewelyn Sawyer anchored the effort on the boards with nine and eight rebounds, respectively.
Long Beach State took an early 12-4 lead on a 3-pointer from Sanchez. UC Irvine closed the gap to four, but the Beach came back with six unanswered to pull ahead, 18-8, at the 11:51 mark. After the Anteaters ended a four-minute scoring drought, LBSU went on 16-6 run, capped by a layup from Madison Montgomery, to take its largest lead of the half at 34-16 with 4:06 to play.
UCI (4-19, 1-7 Big West) made a slight dent in the visitors' lead by making it a 12-point game, but Spargo drained a three from the corner and the 49ers went on to take a 39-24 advantage into the locker room.
Long Beach State scored the first bucket of the second period, but UC Irvine proceeded to go on an 8-2 spurt to make it 43-32 at the 12:41 mark. Spargo then hit another big shot from behind the arc to push the lead to 14 points.
The Anteaters would come back within 11 and hung around until freshman Jessica Gertz and Spargo hit back-to-back threes to give the Beach a 56-39 advantage with 5:13 remaining. Spargo would then make her fourth 3-pointer of the night to match LBSU's largest lead of the night at 59-41, and the 49ers cruised the rest of the way.
LBSU held UC Irvine to 29.1 percent from the field and 12.5 percent from 3-point range. Mokun Fajemisin led the Anteaters with 16 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.
Long Beach State is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 7, when it heads to UC Riverside for a 5 p.m. Big West showdown.
