Box Score Box score

HAYWARD, Calif. – On the strength of senior guard Kristina Lin's season-high 20 points, the Cal State East Bay women's basketball team posted a 74-69 victory over Chico State on Thursday night at Pioneer Gym. The Pioneers (3-18, 3-14 CCAA) posted their third conference win and recorded season-highs in points, field goals, shooting percentage and three-point field goals.

“I told the team prior to the game that I knew we were capable of defending, we just had to score enough to keep our defense fired up,” CSUEB Head Coach Suzy Barcomb said. “It was a team effort to earn the win against a great opponent. We tried to mix our defenses in an effort to keep Chico off balance.”

Lin was nearly perfect from the floor, going 7-for-10 overall and 6-of-8 from three-point range. Her six threes were a new season high for the Pioneers, while her seven field goals tied the season high and her 20 points were the second-most for an East Bay player this season. Freshman guard Sarah Finlay joined Lin in double figures with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor. Finlay also set a new career high with six assists, helping the Pioneers set a new season high with 16 helpers.

“Kristina was amazing tonight, helping us to match the deadly three point shooting of Chico State,” Barcomb said.

Both Azizi Dotson and Cassie Coble added nine points for East Bay. Sophomore forward Marlene MacMillan led East Bay's rebounding efforts with her 10th game in double figures this season, pulling down 11 rebounds and adding eight points and four assists.

The Pioneers finished with a 39-32 advantage on the boards, while shooting a season-high 46.3 percent from the field. East Bay knocked down nine of its 21 shots from three-point range, another season high, while shooting 75 percent from the charity stripe. After struggling to get to the free-throw line several times in the last few weeks, the Pioneers finally got the chance from the foul line and made the most of it, going 13-of-15 on free throws in the second half, including a 7-for-9 performance down the stretch.

“Sarah stepped up and knocked down free throws late in the game as did Cassie,” Barcomb said. “We tried to match the tough physical play and get to the free throw line something we haven't been very good at as of late. Tonight our effort was there and it paid off.”

East Bay opened the first half with six unanswered points, keeping the Wildcats quiet for nearly three minutes. Though Chico State ended the scoring drought, the Pioneers got a three from Lin to take a 9-2 lead with 16:53 remaining. The Wildcats responded with a pair of threes on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead down to one, 9-8.

The Pioneers regained momentum with a 13-6 run that spanned five minutes and opened up a 22-14 advantage. During the run, East Bay got a pair of jumpers from Finlay and another three from Lin while out-rebounding the Wildcats, 6-1. Chico State got back into things, however, scoring eight straight to tie the game at 22 apiece with 6:06 remaining. The Pioneers ended the half with a 13-6 run, capped by a three in the final seconds by Coble to put East Bay up 35-28 at the break.

Cal State East Bay finished the half shooting 45.5 percent from the floor, knocking down three of its nine shots from long range and getting a pair of 4-for-6 performances from the field out of Finlay and Dotson. The pair paced the Pioneers in the first frame with eight points apiece, while MacMillan got the job done on the glass, pulling down eight rebounds to help East Bay out-rebound Chico State 24-14 in the half. Molly Collins and Taylor Lydon scored five apiece and five tied with two rebounds to lead the Wildcats in the opening 20 minutes.

The second half saw the Pioneers open up a 10-point lead in the first five minutes. East Bay got five points from Lauren Lucchesi and another four from Amaris Sanders at the free-throw line to take a 46-36 lead with 15:45 remaining. Over the next six minutes, the Pioneers opened up at least an 11-point lead five times, including a game-high 12-point advantage, 49-37, with 14:22 left to play.

With 9:40 remaining, East Bay took a 60-49 lead on Lin's fifth three-pointer of the game but the Wildcat offense woke up, getting back-to-back threes from Lydon and Katie Girten to spark an 11-0 run that tied the game at 60 with 7:30 left to play. The Pioneers responded to the pressure, however, regaining a seven-point lead with a 9-2 run that saw Maria Dinesen and Finlay convert from the free-throw line and Lin hit her sixth three. MacMillan gave East Bay a 69-62 lead with 4:09 to play after stealing an inbound pass and drop in the layup.

Though Chico State closed the gap to just three with 2:05 to play, East Bay converted from the free-throw line to open a 72-66 lead with just over a minute remaining. A three from Collins with 55 seconds to play cut the lead back to three and after a turnover the Wildcats got the ball back with 40 seconds on the clock. Quality defense from the Pioneers through three missed shots and offensive rebounds by the Wildcats gave East Bay the chance to close out the game at the free-throw line with one tick left on the clock. Finlay converted on both to give the Pioneers the victory.

Collins and Girten paced Chico State with 19 and 14 points, respectively, while Courtney Harrison's five rebounds led the Wildcats on the boards. Chico finished shooting 37.9 percent from the field but hit just 68.2 percent of its free throws and committed 18 fouls in the loss.

“We keeping working towards our team goals and some games you see the results and some games we just come up short,” Barcomb said. “Tonight the team was rewarded with a very big win against one of the top teams in the CCAA.”

Cal State East Bay returns to action on Saturday night, when it plays host to Cal State Stanislaus for its final home game of the season. The Pioneers will honor seniors Sanders, Lin and Dotson before meeting the Warriors (11-10, 9-8 CCAA) at 5:30 p.m. at Pioneer Gym.