RIVERSIDE, Calif. - UC Riverside began 2025 on Thursday evening at the SRC Arena with a 63-48 loss to Long Beach State. 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• UC Riverside entered the evening ranked fourth in the Big West in defense and held Long Beach to just 1 of 8 from the field to start. UCR led the Beach to just 3 of 16 after a quarter.  
• Shelley Duchemin hit back-to-back jumpers to stretch UCR's early lead to 8-4 while grabbing a defensive rebound between attempts.  
• Duchemin beat the shot clock buzzer in the second quarter for her third connection of the night.  
• Makayla Rose grabbed a defensive rebound on a Long Beach missed three and sank a triple of her own, bringing UCR to within a possession at a media stoppage.  
• Maya Chocano beat the shot clock buzzer with a three up top to bring UCR to within six in the third quarter.  
• UCR caught fire late in the third with five of six field goals going down. Duchemin launched a full-court pass to Gemma Cutler under the basket, who dished it to Rose for the easy bucket. The Highlanders ended the third quarter shooting 46.7% for the frame. 

NOTABLES 

• Eight of UCR's first 10 points of the evening came inside the three-point arc.  
• UC Riverside held the Beach scoreless for the final 1:47 of the first half while Cutler made two of her three first-half field goals in the final four minutes of the half.  
• Rose scored 19 points on Thursday for her seventh double-digit scoring output of the season and fifth straight. The junior was one point shy of recording the Highlanders' first individual 20-point game of the season.  

UP NEXT 

• The Highlanders continue Big West play on Saturday, January 4 with a 4:00 p.m. tipoff against UC Irvine at the SRC Arena. Tickets are available now at www.GoHighlanders.com/tickets.