Box Score
Box score

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – A slow night on both sides of the ball led to a 63-47 defeat for the Cal State East Bay women's basketball team at Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday night. The Pioneers (5-10, 2-7 CCAA) trailed by just two at the half, but were out-scored by 14 in the second frame, shooting only 27.6 percent and committing 11 turnovers over the final 20 minutes. 

“We had zero energy of effort tonight,” Head Coach Suzy Barcomb said. “A very disappointing loss to say the very least. We had no life defensively and no heart.”

Junior Lauren Lucchesi paced East Bay with 19 points, tying her season and career highs after going 8-for-16 from the field. Lucchesi also added four rebounds and a pair of assists in 25 minutes. Sophomore Brianna Terrance continued her recent success off the bench, scoring 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the floor and posted six rebounds to finish second on the team. The game marked Terrance's third in the last four in which she has posted double figures in scoring. Marlene MacMillan led the East Bay rebounding efforts with nine boards, while Nia Bravo added four rebounds to help the Pioneers out-do the Coyotes on the glass.

“Lauren had a good night offensively,” Barcomb said.

East Bay finished the game shooting just 33.3 percent and struggled from beyond the arc for the second straight game, hitting just three of their 14 attempts from three-point range. The Pioneers went to the free-throw line just 11 times and converted on only six of those chances. A rough second half saw Cal State East Bay commit 11 of its 16 total turnovers, while Cal State San Bernardino shot 45.8 percent from the field, posted five steals and two blocks.

Eliza Dy and Kristen Huffman led the Coyotes with 20 points apiece, while Angela Streets added another 19. Huffman finished the game with a double-double, adding 11 rebounds and going 7-for-10 from the floor. Overall, Cal State San Bernardino shot 40.4 percent from the field and hit six buckets from long range.

The Pioneers jumped out to a five-point lead to start the game, taking a 13-8 advantage on four points from Lucchesi and three from Terrance in the opening seven minutes. The Coyotes answered back right away, going on a 17-5 run over the next eight minutes to pull ahead by seven, 25-18, with 5:02 to play. East Bay regained momentum to end the half, however, putting together a 9-4 run of its own, sparked by back-to-back baskets from Lucchesi and capped by a pair of free throws from Cassie Coble. With the late push, the Pioneers closed the gap to just two, 29-27, at the half.

Dy opened the second half with a three just 21 seconds in, jump starting a Coyote run that pushed their lead to 10 points, 39-29, with 17 minutes left to play. East Bay answered back with seven straight points from Lucchesi and Terrance to cut the gap back to three points, 39-36. From there, the two teams traded buckets for the next three minutes. Trailing by just five points, 45-40, with 13:02 remaining, the Pioneers suddenly went cold from the field, allowing CSUSB to go on a 9-0 run that was interrupted by a head injury to Coyote player Jessica Dela Cruz, causing a 25-minute delay in the game, while Dela Cruz was taken by ambulance to the hospital. When play resumed, San Bernardino finished off the run to take a 54-40 lead with 6:38 remaining. Carly Bettencourt ended the drought at the 6:17 mark, cutting the lead to 12, but the Pioneers would get no closer, as the Coyotes rolled over the final six minutes to finish off the victory.

Cal State East Bay returns to action next week, when it comes home to Pioneer Gym to host Chico State and Cal State Stanislaus to finish off the first half of the CCAA season. The Pioneers and Wildcats are set to meet on Jan. 20 at 5:30 p.m. for the “Jam the Gym” Challenge – 1,000 fans attend the doubleheader, everyone in attendance gets a coupon for free Chipotle – before taking on the Warriors on Jan. 21, also at 5:30 p.m.