LONG BEACH, Calif. – Senior guard Michelle Curry finished with 24 points at Long Beach State (7-22, 5-10), surpassing the 20-point mark for the fifth time in six games, but the UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team (8-21, 5-10) fell to the 49ers in its 2017-18 road finale, 70-58.
Despite the loss, the Highlanders clinched a Big West Tournament berth on Thursday for the fourth consecutive season.
KEY RUNS
UC Riverside struggled to find a rhythm offensively from early on, as it connected on just 20 percent (7-35 FG) of its shots in the first half. The Highlanders faced a ten-point deficit at the end of the first quarter, 24-14, and at halftime, 37-27.
The 49ers lead would reach its largest point with 3:09 to go in the third, as they took a 55-39 lead on a jumper by Emma Merriweather. The only quarter that UC Riverside outscored Long Beach was the fourth, when the Highlanders outscored the home side 17-15.
GAME NOTES
Curry (24 points) was the Highlanders' only double-digit scorer of the game, as she finished 8-of-19 (.421) from the field and 8-of-9 (.889) at the charity stripe. The senior also brought down eight boards and added two steals on the defensive end.
Senior Lauren Holt hit a three-pointer for the sixth consecutive game (1-8 3FG), but wound up with just five points, ending her double-digit scoring streak at 21 consecutive games. That is tied for the third-longest streak in the program's Division I era.
While the Highlanders were cold from the field throughout, they did a large chunk of their damage from the free throw line, where they finished 21-of-28 (.750), compared to 13-of-24 (.542) for Long Beach. The 21 free throws matched their second-highest total of the season, behind only the 24 they made in their Big West opener against Cal Poly.
UC Riverside's second-leading scorer on the night was sophomore Marina Ewodo, who ended the day with a near double-double with eight points (4-4 FT) and nine rebounds.
Redshirt sophomore Skyler Lewis picked up 11 rebounds for the fourth time during Big West play, also tallying two steals. Freshman Tianna Eaton finished with a career-high 3 blocks to go along with four points.
The Highlanders shot a season-low 23.4 percent (18-77 FG) from the field and had its least efficient three-point shooting night (1-18 3FG) during Big West play.
With a postesason berth already locked up, UC Riverside will return home to close out its season this Saturday against UC Davis on Senior Night at 4:00 p.m.
