Friday, Jan. 13
vs. #2 UC San Diego (14-0, 8-0 CCAA)
RIMAC Arena - La Jolla
5:30 p.m.
Live stats
Saturday, Jan. 14
vs. Cal State San Bernardino (4-8, 3-5 CCAA)
Coussoulis Arena - San Bernardino
5:30 p.m.
Live stats
HAYWARD, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team continues its first conference road trip this weekend, when it travels to take on UC San Diego and Cal State San Bernardino to cap the four-game swing. The Pioneers (5-8, 2-5 CCAA) face a tough test on Friday against the No. 2-ranked Tritons and then head to take on the Coyotes on Saturday, with both games scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start.
East Bay is coming off a win over San Francisco State on Jan. 7 that snapped a three-game losing streak and moving into sole possession of ninth place in the CCAA. The Pioneers played one of their best games of the season against the Gators, posting a dominant 64-39 victory – their first in the three-year "Battle of the Bay" rivalry. East Bay never trailed over the final 33 minutes of the game and a trio of players reached double digits in scoring. Of the 11 Pioneers who played, 10 scored at least two points and nine grabbed at least one board and Cal State East Bay got 34 of its points off the bench. The win also allowed the Pioneers to best last year's total of four wins with another 15 games to play this year.
Sophomore
Brianna Terrance has been on a tear of late, as she led the Pioneers in both games last week, notching consecutive games in double figures in scoring. Terrance finished the week averaging 13.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, going 12-for-18 from the field, while averaging 22 minutes off the bench for East Bay.
Micah Walker still leads the team in overall scoring, averaging 9.2 points per game, while
Lauren Lucchesi is not far behind her with 8.9 points per game.
Marlene MacMillan is pacing the East Bay rebounding efforts, ranking sixth in the CCAA with 8.4 boards per contest. MacMillan is also one of the top shooters in the league, knocking down 51.2 percent of her shots from the field to rank fourth in the conference.
The Pioneers will have their hands full this weekend against UC San Diego, who comes into the weekend undefeated and ranked second in the latest USA Today/ESPN Division II Coaches Poll. The Tritons lead the CCAA in several statistical categories, including scoring offense and field goal percentage, but will be tested by East Bay's tough defense that ranks fourth in the league in scoring defense, allowing just 57.9 points per game, and second in field-goal percentage defense. The Pioneers are also allowing opponents just 35.2 rebounds per game, which leads the CCAA, but will be facing off against the top rebounding team in the Tritons.
Unraveling UC San Diego
The No. 2 Tritons come into Friday's meeting with a perfect 14-0 overall record and an 8-0 mark in conference play. UC San Diego is averaging almost 80 points per game to rank seventh in all of Division II and are among the top-20 in the nation in scoring margin (20), field-goal percentage (45.7), rebounding margin (8.1), assists per game (17.9) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.07). The Tritons have five players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Chelsea Carlisle's 16.3 points and 5.6 assists per game, the latter of which ranks eighth in the nation. Lauren Freidenberg and Erin Dautermont lead the UCSD rebounding efforts with 7.6 and 6.9 boards per game, respectively, and both average more than 10 points per contest as well. Last season, the Tritons posted a pair of convincing victories over the Pioneers, winning by an average of 31 points.
Catching Up on the Coyotes
Cal State San Bernardino enters the weekend 4-8 overall and 3-5 in the CCAA. The Coyotes sit just one win ahead of the Pioneers in the CCAA standings and are set to host Cal State Monterey Bay on Friday night. CSUSB has won two of its last five games, including a 65-59 win over Cal State Stanislaus in its last contest. The Coyotes are second in the conference in blocked shots, knocking away 3.3 attempts per game, and are also holding opponents to just 27.2 percent shooting from three-point range, good for fifth in the league. Angela Streets and Eliza Dy are pacing the San Bernardino offense with just over 14 points per game each. Kristen Huffman is pulling down 7.3 rebounds per game to lead the Coyotes, while Streets adds another 6.3, and Kenisha McKee is turning away nearly two shots per contest to lead the CCAA. CSUSB swept the season series with the Pioneer last year, picking up a pair of victories, including a 57-46 win at Coussoulis Arena in San Bernardino.
Looking Ahead
Cal State East Bay returns home next weekend for a two-game break from the road. The Pioneers will meet Chico State and Cal State Stanislaus to close out the first half of the conference season. Friday's matchup with the Wildcats will be the second annual “Pack the Gym” Night, sponsored by Chipotle. If 1,000 fans come out to cheer on the Pioneers, everyone in the gym will get a coupon for free Chipotle. The next night, the Pioneers and Warriors will meet on Reading Program Night at Pioneer Gym, where students from local elementary schools who participated in the Read with the Pioneers Program will be honored for their hard work.
