Box Score Box score

HAYWARD, Calif. - A late comeback from Notre Dame de Namur doomed the Cal State East Bay women's basketball team in a 65-63 loss on Wednesday night at Pioneer Gym. Playing in their final non-conference matchup of the season, the Pioneers (3-5) led by as many as 15 points in the second half, but could not hold off the hot-shooting Argonauts, who played their third CCAA team in as many games.

“This was a very heartbreaking loss tonight to say the very least,” Head Coach Suzy Barcomb said. “We played such a solid first half and we completely lost focus in the second half. We did not compete at all in the second half and our opponents wanted it more than we did.  Everything we did well in the first half went by the wayside. We had no energy, passion or intensity.”

It was a game of two halves for the Pioneers, who shot better than 40 percent in the first half and only committed four turnovers while knocking down six threes. The second half was a different story, as East Bay had nearly three times as many turnovers, giving the ball up to the Argonauts 11 times and sending NDNU to the line 17 times in the final 20 minutes. The Argonauts, on the other hand, struggled early on before bringing a hot hand into the second half, shooting nearly 50 percent from the field and had three players score in double digits in the second half alone.

“We settled for jump shots way too early in the shot clock in the second half and we didn't get in on the glass,” Barcomb said. “We didn't get to the free throw line at all tonight, where as our opponents outscored us 19-4 from the line.”

Freshman Micah Walker played her best game of the young campaign, scoring a new season-high 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the field, hitting four threes and adding four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Fellow rookie Hega Blikra joined Walker in double figures, matching her season high with her second straight 10-point game and adding five rebounds. Sophomore Sarah Finlay came off the bench to score nine points for East Bay, who got 21 points from their reserves. Starter Lauren Lucchesi also added seven points for the Pioneers.

Junior Marlene MacMillan led the Pioneers' rebounding efforts for the fifth consecutive game, notching seven boards to help East Bay control the glass and out-rebound the Argonauts, 40-30 on the night. East Bay displayed its most comprehensive rebounding of the season, getting at least two boards from nine players, including six from Brianna Terrance, who was determined off the bench for the Pioneers. Terrance also contributed four points and two assists for East Bay in 17 minutes of action.

Taylor Dewees put on a three-point clinic for Notre Dame de Namur, leading all players with 29 points on 7-for-15 shooting, including a 5-for-8 performance from beyond the arc. Dewees scored 16 of the Argonauts 25 first-half points and finished a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line to account for more than half of their points from the charity stripe. Dewees also led all players with four assists and added four rebounds, while Emily Vore and Trisha Malaspina joined her in double figures with 15 and 12 points, respectively. Malaspina scored all of her points in the second frame and Vore posted 10 of her 15 in the final 20 minutes, going 3-for-4 from the field with two threes in the second half.

The Pioneers drained three baskets from beyond the arc to start off a game for the first time since the team's return to Division II in 2009-10, taking an early 9-6 advantage. NDNU responded, though, with a 7-2 run to take a four-point lead. From there, the Pioneers regained control and put together a 24-5 run that began with five straight Argonaut misses, combined with threes from Walker, Cassie Coble and Carly Bettencourt and a pair of jumpers from Terrance. Trailing 34-20 with just two minutes left in the half, NDNU gave a preview of what was to come, closing out the first frame with five straight points from Dewees to give East Bay a 34-25 lead at the break.

The Pioneers had one of their best shooting halves of the season, knocking down 42.4 percent of their shots, including six threes in the first frame. A well-rounded East Bay attack saw all but one player score at least two points, led by Walker's nine points on 3-for-5 shooting from three-point range. The Pioneers also matched the Argonauts on the boards with MacMillan pulling down four rebounds and Walker adding three boards. NDNU also shot well, going 8-for-23 from the field and hitting 50 percent of their shots from long range in the first 20 minutes.

Early on in the second half, the Pioneers built a lead of 15 points twice, and held that advantage, 46-31, with 14:40 to play. NDNU closed the gap to 10, 46-36, at the 13:12 mark thanks to four straight points from Malaspina. Nia Bravo answered back with a three and East Bay regained a 14-point advantage with just under 12 minutes remaining. Dewees, Malaspina and Vore responded and started the process of chipping away at the East Bay lead, combining for 10 points in the ensuing 12-2 run that cut the Pioneer advantage to just four, 54-50, with 8:18 left.

Blikra pushed the lead back to seven, hitting three of the four foul shots after a pair of technicals by the NDNU bench, before Lucchesi knocked down a three to make it six unanswered points for East Bay, who regained a 10-point lead, 60-50 with just under seven minutes to go. From there, though, it was all Argonauts, as they scored 11 straight points, capped by a jumper from Dewees to take their first lead since the 11:48 mark of the first half.

Trailing by one, 61-60, with 1:41 to play, the Pioneers got a three from Walker to grab the lead back, 63-61. A layup from Natellie Saia tied the game at 63 with 1:06 remaining. The two teams then traded turnovers, but East Bay could not take advantage of the steal by MacMillan, sending Notre Dame down the court with the ball with 20 seconds left. Dewees missed a jumper with nine seconds left, but Saia was there to grab the offensive board and Malaspina bounced a jumper off the rim to score NDNU's only second-chance points of the game and give the Argonauts a 65-63 lead with 3.5 seconds remaining. With the chance to send the game to overtime, the Pioneers took a timeout and drew up a play to get Walker the ball, but the shot at the buzzer rimmed in and out to hand East Bay the 65-63 loss.

“Micah had a great all-around game tonight,” Barcomb said. “I designed the last play for her and she took a great shot, it just didn't fall. We have to regroup and get prepared for another tough CCAA weekend.”

With the non-conference campaign put to bed, Cal State East Bay will jump back into CCAA action this weekend, when it plays host to Cal State Dominguez Hills on Sunday and Cal State LA on Monday. The Pioneers and Toros are set for a 5:30 p.m. tip in the first game of the doubleheader at Pioneer Gym on Sunday.