Box Score LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team opened the second half of the CCAA campaign with a close, 61-52, loss to Cal State LA on Friday night at the Eagles' Nest. The Pioneers (6-12, 3-9 CCAA) got 32 points from the bench, led by Brianna Terrance's fourth-straight game in double figures, but could not overcome a 12-point halftime lead. 

“Our bench was a bright spot for us tonight,” Head Coach Suzy Barcomb said. “We must have everyone show up and compete.”

Playing without freshman guard Hege Blikra due to injury for the third straight game, East Bay needed help from its reserves, including Terrance's 13 points which led the team. Carly Bettencourt added nine points, while both Cassie Coble and Frieda Li contributed five points, all off the bench. Micah Walker and Marlene MacMillan added nine and seven points, respectively. MacMillan also led the Pioneers' rebounding efforts with 10 rebounds, including six offensive boards.

“Clearly we miss the steadiness of Hege, but her minutes and production must be taken up by someone else on the team,” Barcomb said.

Overall, the Pioneers shot 37.5 percent from the field and bounced back from a three-point shooting cold spell, going 4-for-10 from beyond the arc in the loss. East Bay again struggled from the charity stripe, getting to the line just 15 times and converting only six of those opportunities.

Jazzi Johnson paced three Golden Eagles in double figures, scoring a game high 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field. Tessondra Williams and Lacy Ramon joined Johnson in double digits in scoring, adding 15 and 10 points, respectively. Ramon also led Cal State LA with nine rebounds, while Samantha Hansen added eight boards off the bench for the Golden Eagles. As a team, LA shot 45.8 percent from the field and were out-rebounded by the Pioneers.

Cal State LA never trailed in the game, building a lead of as many as 16 points in the opening frame, when it went 14-for-28 from the floor and scored 20 points off of 13 East Bay turnovers. The Pioneers closed the gap to 12 at the half and carried the momentum into the second half, going on an 11-6 run to cut the LA lead to just seven with 15:52 to play.

Though East Bay kept the game close over the next six minutes, trailing 43-46 with 10 minutes remaining, the Golden Eagles put together a 12-5 run of their own to regain a 14-point lead, 55-41 with 5:32 left. Back-to-back buckets from Bettencourt and Terrance closed the gap back to nine with just over three minutes left, but Cal State LA held on, forcing three East Bay turnovers in the final minute of play to pick up the nine-point victory.

Cal State East Bay returns to action tomorrow, when it looks to earn the season sweep over Cal State Dominguez Hills at the Toro Dome. The Pioneers and Toros are set for a 5:30 p.m. first tip in Carson.