Sophomore guard Justina King scored 13 of her 18 points in two overtime periods to help lift Long Beach State women’s basketball to a 73-67 double-overtime victory over UC Riverside on Thursday night at Walter Pyramid.
It’s the fourth consecutive win for LBSU (10-10, 5-2) and the Beach is now just a half-game behind first-place UC Davis in the Big West Conference standings.
King also had four assists, two steals, and a pair of rebounds while Shanaijah Davison scored 15 points and Ma’Qhi Berry filled the stat box with 14 points, six steals, five assists, four rebounds and one block. Senior forward Aaryon Green grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds.
LBSU opened the game on a 10-2 run thanks to strong defense and ended up forcing UCR into 27 turnovers. The Highlanders came back at the start of the second half and the game stayed close down the stretch.
After King put LBSU back up 49-47 in the final minute, a foul sent UCR’s Jannon Otto to the line with just 1.5 seconds left in regulation. Otto made both free throws to send it into overtime.
Both teams scored nine points in the first overtime, and then King scored nine points in the second overtime to carry LBSU to victory.
The Beach heads to Honolulu to face Hawaii on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. (PT).
Men’s Basketball
LBSU (7-15, 2-4) allowed UC Riverside to make eight second-half 3-pointers in a 77-69 loss on the road.
Sophomore Chance Hunter finished with 20 points for the Beach, and it’s the sixth time he’s scored 20 or more this season. He also had a team-high eight rebounds.
Junior Colin Slater added 12 points while sophomore Michael Carter III finished with 14 points off the bench in his return to the floor. Freshman Joshua Morgan finished with eight points and four blocks. Senior Drew Cobb had seven points and seven rebounds in his second start of the season.
LBSU returns to Walter Pyramid on Saturday at 4 p.m. to host UC Santa Barbara.
