Box Score Long Beach–The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team's rally in the second half came up short as they fell, 55-51, to Long Beach State at the Pyramid.

Réjane Vérin led the Highlanders with 17 points and six rebounds, three steals and two blocks all while battling a sprained ankle in addition to the 49ers.

The first half saw UCR shoot 5-16 in each of the first two quarters for a combined 10-32 (31.3%) from the field. They shot 1-8 from long distance and certainly had opportunities to score as the Beach had 12 first half turnovers.

Michelle Curry and Vérin had six points at the break for UCR, who trailed 31-22.

Coming out of the locker room, the 49ers scored the first five points of the frame before the Highlanders got on the board with under seven minutes to play in the third to make it, 36-24.

Curry had four points and two of her season-high tying four steals on the afternoon in the third period before fouling out at the 3:30 mark with the blue and gold trailing
38-31.

UCR would go on to outscore Long Beach State 17-5 to closeout the period, as free-throws from Clemence Lefebvre and Simone DeCoud helped UC Riverside close the Long Beach State margin to 44-41 heading into the fourth.

Vérin poured in nine of her game-high 17 points in the run, shooting a perfect 4-4 from the field and 1-2 at the line.

The Highlanders opened the fourth quarter 0-5 from the field with three turnovers over the first five minutes of play.

Lauren Holt had old an fashioned three-point play with 4:23 to play for UCR's first score of the period, Vérin then stole a pass at midcourt and finished at the other end to make it a four-point game, 50-46.

The score would get no closer as the hosts pushed the lead up to as many eight, before the Highlanders cut it to four in the final seconds of the game the ended, 55-51, in favor of the 49ers.

Curry finished with 10 points, and DeCoud tallied eight points, six rebounds, and five assists in the loss.

UC Riverside now sits in a logjam of teams at 4-3 in the Big West ahead of Thursday's opening game of a Men's/ Women's Basketball double-header against Hawai'i on ESPN at 5 PM.