Box Score
Box score

HAYWARD, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team's conference season got off to a rough start in a 59-35 loss to Sonoma State on Friday night at Pioneer Gym. The Pioneers (2-3, 0-1 CCAA) hung with the Seawolves (2-1, 1-1) on the glass and held them to their scoring average but East Bay struggled to find its shooting touch in the home opener, going 12-for-53 from the field and shooting just 14 percent in the second half. 

“This was a disappointing loss to say the very least, especially with this being our home opener,” Head Coach Suzy Barcomb said. “Clearly we were not mentally prepared for the physical play of the CCAA. This might be our youth showing. It was evident we hadn't played in nearly two weeks and Sonoma played a very aggressive game and shot the ball really well.”

The Pioneers were led by junior Lauren Lucchesi's nine points and Marlene MacMillan's eight rebounds. MacMillan added six points, while sophomore Cassie Coble scored five of her eight points in the second half for East Bay. Both Lucchesi and freshman Micah Walker notched four rebounds, helping Cal State East Bay trail Sonoma State on the boards by just five.

East Bay finished the game shooting just 22.6 percent from the field, including a 3-for-21 performance from three-point range. The Pioneers struggled again from the free-throw line, only making 12 trips to the charity stripe and knocking down just eight of those chances. Although East Bay turned the ball over 23 times, it also forced 15 Sonoma State turnovers.

“The key focus points for this team will always remain the same: rebounding, getting to the free-throw line and not turning the ball over,” Barcomb said. “Unfortunately, we didn't perform well in those areas in tonight's game. We won't win games shooting 22 percent, it puts too much pressure on our defense to be perfect and with the talent in the CCAA that is a great deal to ask.”

The Seawolves were led by Kristina Fahey who came off the bench to score 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field. Elizabeth Day led the Sonoma State rebounding efforts with eight boards. Both Roxanne Rentschler and Taylor Vigil added eight points apiece for the hot-shooting Seawolves, who went 22-for-48 from the field and hit 35.3 percent of their shots from long range.

Both teams started out slow before Sonoma State built a nine-point lead, 13-4, midway through the first half. The Seawolves increased their lead to 13 before the Pioneers woke up on the offensive end, quickly closing the gap to just seven with back-to-back threes from Coble and Lucchesi. Leading 20-13, SSU responded with four straight points to regain an 11-point advantage with 4:34 remaining in the half. East Bay answered right back, though, with a pair of jumpers from MacMillan and Sarah Finlay to cut the lead down to seven, 24-17. An 8-2 run for Sonoma State to end the half sent the Pioneers to the locker room trailing 32-19.

MacMillan paced the Pioneers in the first half, posting six points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field and her three rebounds tied with Micah Walker to lead East Bay on the boards, where they were out-rebounded 19-12 in the first frame. Though the Pioneers shot 32 percent from the field, Sonoma State was better, knocking down 46.4 percent of their shots, including four buckets from long range.

After the Seawolves opened the second half with three straight points to take a 35-19 lead early on. East Bay responded, though, with four straight points from Lucchesi to pull back within 12, 35-23, with 15:32 to play. Despite the run from the Pioneers, Sonoma State built its lead back up right away, going on a 9-2 run to take its biggest lead to that point at 44-25. Two free throws from Brianna Terrance cut the lead back to 17 before a three from Fahey put the Seawolves up by 20 with 6:14 to play. Though the Pioneers cut the lead back to 19 on a Walker free throw, Sonoma State took advantage of a technical on Walker to take a 21-point advantage, 49-28, with 4:52 to play. East Bay would only get back within 20 on a three by Coble before the Seawolves finished the game off with a 6-2 run to seal the win.

Cal State East Bay returns to action on Saturday, when it plays host to Humboldt State. The Jacks (4-1, 1-1) were handed their first loss of the season by Cal State Monterey Bay on Friday night at The Kelp Bed. The Pioneers and Jacks are set for a 5:30 p.m. tip in the first half of a CCAA doubleheader at Pioneer Gym tomorrow.