Box score

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team kicked off the 2011-12 campaign with a 70-53 loss to Division I San Jose State on Sunday afternoon. The exhibition game served as the Pioneers' final tune up before traveling to San Rafael next weekend to face Academy of Art and Dominican in the CCAA/Pac West Challenge to open the regular season.

Sophomore Cassie Coble led East Bay with 15 points, while sophomore Brianna Terrance and freshman Micah Walker each added 12 points to give the Pioneers three players in double figures. Terrance finished the game perfect from both the field and the free-throw line, going 5-for-5 from the floor and knocking down a pair of foul shots. Meanwhile in her East Bay debut, Walker went 5-for-9 from the field and hit two three-pointers and added three steals. 

"Three players scoring in double digits is a good sign for us," Head Coach Suzy Barcomb said. "We're going to need five players in double digits night-in and night-out to compete in the CCAA. We have several areas to work on before our next game, but the offensive punch provided by Brianna and Cassie in the first half and Micah in the second half was an great starting point."

The Pioneers out-shot the Spartans, going 20-for-46 from the field to knock down 43.5 percent of their shots and hitting five shots from beyond the arc. East Bay shot an impressive 54.2 percent in the first half and trailed by just six with under four minutes to go in the opening frame. 

San Jose State had five players in double figures, led by Ta'rea Cunningham's 14 and a pair of 13-point performances from Myesha Broaden and Brittany Johnson. Despite nine rebounds from junior Marlene MacMillan, the Spartans out-rebounded the Pioneers 38-30 and forced 34 East Bay turnovers in the win. 

"We didn't compete well on the glass today," Barcomb said. "Marlene held her own with nine boards, though."

Cal State East Bay held the lead twice early on in the first half, as Coble knocked down the first shot of the game - a three - to put the Pioneers up 3-0. Though the Spartans tied the game, East Bay regained the advantage on Coble's second bucket of the game to put the Pioneers up 5-3. 

After SJSU grabbed back the lead at 7-5 with back-to-back baskets, it would never trail again, going on a 27-9 run to build its largest lead of the first half at 16 points, 30-14. East Bay responded, though, quickly closing the gap back to three points with 13 unanswered points. Terrance sparked the run with back-to-back jumpers before Coble, MacMillan and Frieda Li each scored to cut the Spartan lead to 30-27 with 3:46 remaining in the half. A 12-2 run from SJSU to end the first frame sent the Pioneers to the locker room trailing 42-29. 

The Spartans held onto their lead throughout the second half, though East Bay closed the gap to single digits early on in the half. Trailing 44-29 after the first bucket of the second frame, the Pioneers put together a 9-3 run that included three baskets and seven points from Walker to cut the San Jose State lead to nine points, 47-38. 

A three from Sara Plavljanin put the Spartans back up by 12 with 13:56 to play and SJSU would never trail by fewer than 10 points for the remainder of the game. Though the Pioneers closed the gap down to 12 with 4:18 remaining, that was the closest they would get as their shooting cooled off in the second half, when they shot just 31.8 percent. The Spartans also showed fatigue in the second frame, hitting only eight of their 32 attempts from the field. SJSU took advantage of 20 turnovers and posted 11 steals in the second half, however, to seal the exhibition victory. 

Cal State East Bay will open the 2011-12 regular season on the road next weekend, when it takes on Academy of Art at 1 p.m. on Nov. 11 at Dominican in San Rafael for the CCAA/Pac West Challenge. The Pioneers will then take on the host Penguins at 5 p.m. on Nov. 12 to close out the tournament.