Box Score Irvine, Calif. – Long Beach State secured a victory at the free throw line as they held off UC Irvine, 71-65 in a Black & Blue Rivalry game presented by Duke's of Huntington Beach at the Bren Events Center Saturday.
LBSU (13-5, 2-2) went 24-27 (88.9%) from the line overall, including 8-8 in the final minute of the game to seal the win.
UC Irvine (3-15, 0-4) was led by Shereen Sutherland's 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Mckenzie Piper had 12 points and eight boards, while Andee Ritter recorded 11 points, going 3-5 from long distance. Raelyn Cheung-Sutton fired 11 assists and had five steals to go with five points. Paulina Santana came off the bench and went 4-8 from the floor for eight points. Mokun Fajemisin added eight rebounds and six points.
Five Forty-Niners had double-figure scoring led by Jessica Gertz with 13 points, hitting 7-7 from the line. Anna Kim had 12 points followed by Jewelyn Sawyer, Cecily Wilson and Raven Benton with 11 points each. Benton and Gertz each grabbed seven rebounds to lead the team.
The Anteaters started the game with a 12-0 lead, but LBSU would respond with a 14-5 run to close within 17-14 at 1:37. The teams would trade baskets before the buzzer sounded with UCI leading 19-16 at the end of the first period.
The Forty-NIners would take its first lead of the game on a Chantel Dooley bucket (22-21) at 6:09. LBSU held a seven point advantage (36-29) with two minutes to go in the second period behind three consecutive free throws by Jessica Gertz. UCI's Mckenzie Piper recorded the final two baskets to go in to the half trailing 36-33.
Long Beach State would build an eight point lead on two Anna Kim free throws with 17 seconds left in the third quarter and head in to the final period with a 52-46 lead.
Three-pointers by Mckenzie Piper and Raelyn Cheung-Sutton cut the lead to 54-52 at 8:20. The Forty-Niners would extend the lead back to six (63-57) on a Kim runner down the paint with 1:45 to go before UCI's Andee Ritter nailed a long three-pointer to close the gap to 63-60 with 1:30 remaining. A Long Beach State missed shot and a UCI turnover gave the Forty-Niners the ball back and UCI fouled Kim with 40 seconds left. Kim would begin the perfect shooting performance from the line to end the game.Each team would hit a pair of free throws before Ritter would knock down another three with 18 seconds on the clock (67-65). Jewelyn Sawyer and Cecily Wilson would each make a pair at the line to close out the game and keep the Anteaters at bay.
UCI will host Hawaii next Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.
