LONG BEACH – Long Beach State thwarted a second-half comeback by UCSB and took a 52-45
victory in a Big West women’s basketball game on Saturday at the Pyramid.
With the loss, UCSB falls to 5-9 on the season and 1-1 in Big West play. Long Beach State improves to 9-5 overall and 2-0 in league games. The 49ers improve their home record to 8-2 and extend their current win streak to five straight.
After being limited to a season-low 14 points in the first half, which ties for the fifth lowest
first half output in program lore, UCSB was able to come back from a 20-14 deficit with a
11-2 run that gave them their biggest lead of the game with 15:19 on the clock.
A see-saw battle would ensue as the game was tied eight times throughout the half. With 1:41 to go, the Gauchos tied the score for the last time when Melissa Zornig secured the ball on the defensive half, passed it to Nicole Nesbit, who drove up the left side of the court and made a lay-up while
being fouled. She sank her free-throw to tie the game at 44-44.
Long Beach responded with a lay-up by Devin Hudson to regain the lead. The Gauchos then
began to foul. The 49ers were able to sink 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch and UCSB was
unable to find the bucket that would get them back in the game.
In the first half, the Gauchos shot just 22.7% (5-of-22). Long Beach did not fair much better, shooting 26.7% from the field, but its 16 trips to the charity stripe eclipsed the Gauchos’ five.
Nicole Nesbit, Sweets Underwood and Angelei Aguirre fueled UCSB’s second-half comeback.
Nesbit scored nine of her team-leading 15 points in the final stanza; she also finished with a
team-best five assists. Underwood, who finished the game with her fifth double-double of
the season (12 points, 12 rebounds), scored eight points in the second half, as did Aguirre.
The Gauchos shot an improved 43.3% (13-of-30) in the second half and out-rebounded the
49ers, 38-28, for the game. They struggled with foul trouble late in the game, however, as
three seniors fouled out.
Long Beach State was led by Alex Sanchez’s 12 points, nine of which were scored in the
second half. Mary Ochiltree had a team-best five rebounds.
UCSB will return home on Thursday, Jan. 10 to host Pacific at 4 p.m.
