Long Beach, Calif. – UC Irvine could not sustain its momentum late in the game and lost  to Long Beach State, 71-61 at the Walter Pyramid Saturday afternoon.

The Forty-Niners earned two points in the Black & Blue Rivalry Series presented by Duke's of Huntington Beach and lead UCI 11-7 overall.

Juniors Camille Buckley and Kelly Meggs totaled a team-high 11 points with Buckley grabbing seven rebounds and Meggs dishing a game-high six assists, which tied her career-high. Forward Jasmine Bernard came off the bench to record eight points and seven rebounds, while forwards Mokun Fajemisin and Methlyn Onogomuho each had six points.

Long Beach State's Lauren Spargo came off the bench to lead all players with a season-high 16 points, going 5-6 from the floor including 3-4 from three-point range. Alex Sanchez scored 13 points followed by Devin Hudson with 12 points and seven rebounds.

UCI shot 45.8 percent (22-48) from the field which is the third best offensive night this season. The Anteaters struggled from the free throw line, missing 10 shots (8-18). The Forty-Niners shot 48.1 percent (26-54) from the floor for the game and 52 percent in the second half (13-25). LBSU out-rebounded UCI 37-29. The Anteaters' 29 rebounds were the second fewest of the season. Both teams hit nine three-pointers, which tied a season-best for UCI.

With the score tied at 14-14, UCI had consecutive baskets by Jasmine Bernard, Mokun Fajemisin and Methlyn Onogomuho to go ahead 20-14. Following a LBSU jumper by Chantel Dooley, Kelly Meggs knocked down a three-pointer for a 23-16 lead at 7:25. The Forty-Niners responded with back to back three-pointers, but UCI would score the next five to push the lead back to 28-22 with 3:11 left in the half.  Long Beach would go on a quick 9-1 run to regain the lead at 31-29 at 1:10. A pair of Jasmine Bernard buckets were sandwiched around a three-pointer by Lauren Spargo to end the first half scoring with Long Beach leading 34-33 at the intermission.

The second half had six lead changes including the last time the Anteaters held the lead, 53-50, at 10:01 following back to back three-pointers by Kelly Meggs and Anete Klintsone. A basket down low by Devin Hudson was followed by a three-pointer by Mary Ochiltree and a jumper by Jade Wilson to put Long Beach State back on top 57-53 with 8:26 left. A layup by Mokun Fajemisin drew the Anteaters within one (59-58) at 4:51, but UCI would only manage a three-pointer by Jennifer Tsurumoto for the rest of the game as Long Beach State would close out the game on a 12-3 run for the 71-61 final score.

UCI drops to 4-15 overall and 0-7 in the Big West Conference, while Long Beach improves to 11-8 overall and 4-3 in conference play.

The Anteaters will head to Northern California next week visiting Pacific Thursday (Jan. 31) and UC Davis Saturday (Feb. 2).