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POMONA, Calif. – Playing through injuries to several key players, Cal State East Bay women's basketball team fell to Cal Poly Pomona, 77-60, in its final game of the 2010-11 campaign on Friday night at Kellogg Gym. The Pioneers (4-22, 4-18 CCAA) had their best shooting night of the season and out-rebounded the Broncos, but could not overcome a 19-point halftime deficit in the season finale.

Freshman Cassie Coble had a breakout game to cap her rookie campaign, leading the Pioneers with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. The Patterson native also added four rebounds, a pair of blocks and a steal in the loss. Freshman forward Brianna Terrance led the East Bay rebounding efforts with seven boards and added 10 points off the bench for the Pioneers. Meanwhile, freshman guard Maria Dinesen dished out a season-high seven assists and added six points, while both Lauren Lucchesi and Azizi Dotson posted seven points apiece.

“Losing Nia [Bravo] and Marlene to injuries left us pretty short-handed this weekend,” CSUEB Head Coach Suzy Barcomb said. “Cassie had a tremendous game and I look forward to seeing what she will accomplish next year. Bri was very aggressive tonight on both ends of the floor.”

Cal State East Bay finished shooting a season-high 57.9 percent from the field, knocking down 22 shots, including a 14-of-19 performance from the field in the second half. East Bay also out-rebounded Cal Poly Pomona 31-25, but committed 24 turnovers to the Broncos' nine in the loss.

“Our inability to take care of the basketball hurt us once again tonight,” Barcomb said. “We shot the ball amazingly well in the second half and boarded much better as well.”

Cal Poly Pomona had five players score in double figures, led by 15 points apiece from Megan Ford and Reyana Colson. La'kenya Simon West contributed 14 points, while Sarah Semenero added 12 and Charlene Popoff posted 10 off the bench. Colson paced the Broncos on the boards with five rebounds, while notching eight assists and adding three steals in the win. Pomona shot 47.5 percent from the field, including a 6-of-10 performance from three-point range in the first half.

East Bay opened the game by trading buckets with Pomona before building a five-point lead, 17-12, with 11:12 to play in the half. The Broncos, however, answered with a 28-4 run that saw the Pioneers go 2-for-7 from the field while Pomona heated up from three-point range, knocking down six shots from long range during the run. Over the eight-minute run, the Pioneers committed 11 turnovers while forcing just one for the Broncos. Trailing 40-21, Cal State East Bay closed the gap to 17 before Cal Poly Pomona ended the half with a 43-24 advantage.

Despite shooting an almost unheard of 73.7 percent from the floor in the second half, knocking down 14 field goals, Cal State East Bay could not overcome the Bronco lead. Cal Poly Pomona answered by shooting 44.4 percent from the field and forcing 10 Pioneer turnovers while committing just three. The Broncos never led by fewer than 14 points in the second frame and held on to pull out the victory.

The Pioneers finish the season with four conference victories, a two-win improvement on the initial CCAA campaign in 2009-10. Cal State East Bay ended the 2010-11 slate locked in a three-way tie for 12th in the conference standings and is just three games out from the eighth and final berth in the CCAA Tournament.

“Our season will be evaluated in terms of wins and losses and that's not fair to the athletes who bought into a new system and made great strides,” Barcomb said.

The Pioneers will lose just three seniors – Dotson, Kristina Lin and Amaris Sanders – at the end of Barcomb's first campaign at the helm. East Bay will bring back its two leading scorers in Lucchesi and Sarah Finlay and leading rebounder in MacMillan for the 2011-12 season, the first in which the Pioneers will be eligible for the CCAA Tournament.