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SEATTLE, Wash. - The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team used great shooting and aggressive rebounding to top Central Washington, 69-62, in its weekend finale at the SPU/Sodexo Tip-Off Classic in Seattle on Saturday. The Pioneers (2-2) had three players in double figures for the second straight game and led for almost the entire game to pick up the weekend split at Brougham Pavilion.

"We got the split and that is so very important for our program," Head Coach Suzy Barcomb said. "The team played hard and were incredibly focused."

East Bay bounced back from a rough night on the glass and at the free-throw line to out-rebound the Wildcats and hit nearly 82 percent of its shots from the charity stripe. The Pioneers also found success on the floor, draining 48.9 percent of its shots, including a 5-for-8 night from beyond the arc. East Bay also held the advantage down low, scoring 24 points in the paint. 

"We corrected our two flaws from Friday night's game - rebounding and free throws," Barcomb said. "We really focused in driving it hard down the lane and we had some fantastic finishes by several players."

Sophomore Sarah Finlay led all players with 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the floor. Junior Marlene MacMillan added 12 points and led the Pioneer rebounding efforts with seven boards. Freshman Micah Walker joined Finlay and MacMillan in double digits, scoring a season-high 15 points while adding four steals, four boards and three assists on the night. Walker also went 3-for-5 from three-point range in the win.

"Sarah had great shot selection today," Barcomb said. "Mac was great on the glass again and added a big offensive boost for us."

East Bay also got help from junior Lauren Lucchesi's nine points, while Brianna Terrance posted six rebounds. Carly Bettencourt and Cassie Coble combined for 10 rebounds to help the Pioneers hold a 41-39 advantage on the glass. 

The two teams started the game off trading baskets, playing to five early ties in the first seven minutes. Locked at 14-14, the Pioneers broke out thanks to 14 unanswered points. The scoring streak saw East Bay knock down a pair of threes and force three turnovers to take a 28-14 lead with 6:31 to go in the first half. For the remainder of the half, the Pioneers never led by fewer than 10 points until the Wildcats closed out the half with a jumper to cut the East Bay halftime lead to nine points, 35-26.

Central Washington started off the second half on a 10-6 run to shrink the East Bay lead to just five points with 14:47 remaining. The Pioneers responded, however, putting together a run of their own to build a 17-point advantage. Sparked by a Lucchesi layup, East Bay notched a 16-4 run that featured 12 points from MacMillan, Walker and Finlay and gave the Pioneers a 57-40 lead with 8:50 left. Though the Wildcats put together a late run to bring the lead back down to five, the Pioneers held off the surge with a pair of Finlay free throws to close out the win. 

Following Seattle Pacific's 11th tournament title, the Falcons' Rachel Murray collected tournament MVP honors. Among the other six SPU/Sodexo Tip-Off Classic All-Tournament Team members was Walker, who finished the weekend averaging 12.5 points and 3.5 assists per game, while shooting nearly 45 percent from beyond the arc.

Cal State East Bay now takes a 13-day break from competition before it returns to the court for its home opener on Dec. 2. The Pioneers will host Sonoma State in the CCAA opener at 5:30 p.m. at Pioneer Gym.