Box Score Box score
HAYWARD, Calif. – For the second time in as many games, the Cal State East bay women's basketball team shot better than 40 percent from the field and three-point range to pick up a 17-point victory, 67-50, over Cal State Stanislaus on Senior Night at Pioneer Gym on Saturday. The Pioneers (4-18, 4-14 CCAA) had four players in double figures in scoring, led by freshman
Sarah Finlay's career-high 20 points.
"We wanted to send the Seniors out with a victory on their home floor," CSUEB Head Coach
Suzy Barcomb said. "Sarah fired us up with with a great rendition of the National Anthem and then followed up the performance with a great outing on the court. She played two great halves for the red and black tonight."
Finlay scored 12 of her 20 points in the second half, going a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line down the stretch and finishing 11-for-13 from the charity stripe and 4-for-6 from the field. The Reno, Nev., native notched her second straight double-digit scoring game and added six rebounds and a pair of assists. Sophomore
Lauren Lucchesi contributed 11 points for East Bay, her third double-digit scoring game in the last five, while senior
Kristina Lin and freshman
Brianna Terrance each added 10 points apiece, with Terrance matching her season-high in scoring and pulling down five boards.
"Four players in double digits shows that we are starting the share the basketball and trusting our teammates more and more," Barcomb said. "Bri was an outstanding spark off the bench for us tonight in the first half. We were struggling to score and she came in a got us going with her energy and key baskets."
Marlene MacMillan led the Pioneer rebounding efforts with nine boards, while senior
Azizi Dotson finished with eight rebounds to help East Bay out-rebound the Warriors 39-32. The Pioneers finished shooting 42.9 percent overall, including a season-high 50 percent of their three-point attempts. East Bay went to the line 35 times, converting on 25 of those chances, another season high. A very physical game, the two teams combined for 49 fouls and shot 55 free throws.
"We knocked down our free throws late in the game with Stanislaus was putting us on the line," Barcomb said.
The Warriors were led by three players with 11 points in seniors Christin Gowan, Jeaneatte Rowe and Katie Busi. Busi completed the double-double with 11 rebounds to lead Cal State Stanislaus on the glass. Rowe added two steals, while Gowan finished 4-of-8 from the field. The Warriors shot 32.1 percent from the field but hit just three of their 14 shots from three-point range.
"Our team defense was solid. Holding the high-scoring offense of Stanislaus to 50 points was a total team effort," Barcomb said.
In a physical first half, the Pioneers and Warriors combined for 15 fouls in the first 15 minutes, trading buckets and turnovers early. After Stanislaus built a seven-point lead, 14-7, at the 12:46 mark, East Bay answered with a 16-6 run that spanned seven minutes. The run saw Terrance come off the bench to score six from the floor and grab three boards to put the Pioneers up 23-20 with 5:34 left to play in the half.
Though the Warriors closed the gap to one twice in the final five minutes, the Pioneers finished the half with a three from Lin to take a 32-28 advantage into the break.
The two squads ended the half with a combined 24 fouls and 18 turnovers. Terrance's 10 points and five rebounds in seven minutes off the bench paced East Bay, which held a 16-15 advantage on the boards and shot 52.6 percent from the field in the first frame. Gowan paced the Warriors with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field, while Lauren Godde's seven boards led Cal State Stanislaus' rebounding efforts.
Cal State East Bay never trailed in the second half, opening up a 10-point lead, 43-33, at the 11:43 mark. The Warriors answered and closed the gap to six with 7:39 remaining, but would get no closer as the Pioneers got things done from the free-throw line late, going 14-of-16 from the charity stripe down the stretch. Finlay heated up in the final 10 minutes of the half, as well, hitting six foul shots and a three to score nine of East Bay's last 24 points.
The game marked the final home contest for three Pioneer seniors in Lin, Dotson and
Amaris Sanders. The three combined for 20 points and 10 rebounds on the night and were honored before the game.
The Pioneers return to action next weekend as they travel to Southern California to begin their final four-game road trip to cap the 2010-11 campaign. East Bay will meet Cal State LA, the first team it defeated in the CCAA this season, on Feb. 18 before traveling to face Cal State Dominguez Hills on Feb. 19.
