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ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Anna Kim scored 15 points and Madison Montgomery drained a clutch 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter to clinch an NCAA tournament berth with a 56-55 win over Long Beach State in the Big West Conference tournament championship Saturday.
Trailing by two, second-seeded Long Beach State got a 3-pointer from Montgomery to retake the lead for good 54-53 with 1:45 to play. Jewelyn Sawyer then dropped in a layup to stretch the advantage to three and No. 4 seed Santa Barbara went 2 of 4 from the line over the final 44 seconds.
Montgomery finished with 14 points and Raven Benton had 12 for Long Beach State (23-10), which played in its first conference tournament championship since 2012.
Santa Barbara (16-16) rallied in the second half, slashing a 19-point deficit with a 21-4 run stretching across most of the third quarter and into the fourth to trail 42-40 with 8:31 to play. Six minutes later, the Gauchos edged into their first lead of the game, 53-51, on Drea Toler's 3-pointer.
Toler finished with 16 points and Drew Edelman had 14 points and 14 rebounds for Santa Barbara.
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