Thursday, Jan. 5
at Cal Poly Pomona (8-1, 4-1 CCAA)
Kellogg Gym - Pomona
5:30 p.m.
Live video | Live stats
Saturday, Jan. 7 - Battle of the Bay
at San Francisco State (2-9, 1-4 CCAA)
Main Gym - San Francisco
5:30 p.m.
Live stats
HAYWARD, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team will take its show on the road for the first time during the 2011-12 CCAA campaign when it heads to Cal Poly Pomona and San Francisco State this weekend. The Pioneers (4-7, 1-4 CCAA) will look to build on their 2-1 record away from Pioneer Gym, beginning with the Broncos on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Kellogg Gym. East Bay will then wrap up the first road weekend of the league slate on Saturday, taking on the Gators at SF State's Main Gym at 5:30 p.m. in this year's first installment of the Battle of the Bay.
Cal State East Bay is coming off a 68-56 loss to Cal State Monterey Bay on Dec. 30. Though the Pioneers played one of their best games of the season, posting their second-highest shooting percentage of the season at 46.9 percent and holding Monterey Bay 10 rebounds under its season average, the Otters still came out on top. Junior
Lauren Lucchesi had a career night for East Bay, however, scoring 9 points, on 7-for-9 shooting from the field, with a pair of threes. Lucchesi bested her previous career-high by four points, set a new single game high for the Pioneers this season and posted the second-highest shooting percentage by an individual this year for East Bay.
The Pioneers enter the weekend tied with the Gators for ninth in the CCAA, but rank among the league leaders in some key statistical categories. East Bay's defense is holding opponents to just 37.5 percent shooting from the field, which is good for second in the conference. The Pioneers are also allowing just over 35 rebounds to the opposition, which ranks third in the CCAA, and are holding opponents to 58.5 points per game to rank fifth in the league.
Rookie
Micah Walker paces East Bay with 9.7 points per game, which places her among the top 25 scorers in the conference. Lucchesi is just off Walker's pace, scoring 9.4 points per contest, while fellow junior
Marlene MacMillan is leading the East Bay rebounding effort with eight rebounds per game, ranking sixth in the CCAA. MacMillan is also adding 7.3 points per contest and leads the team with 19 steals while shooting 51.4 percent from the field to rank among the league's top-10 shooters.
This weekend, the Pioneers will need to pick up their free-throw and three-point shooting to get back on track in league play. East Bay has shot under 30 percent from long range in each of the last two games, including a 2-for-11 performance from beyond the arc against the Otters. In each of its four wins this year, Cal State East Bay has found a rhythm from three-point range, shooting 35 percent or better and hitting at least five shots from outside in those games. The Pioneers will also be looking to make the most of their opportunities at the charity stripe, where they are shooting just 63.6 percent and hitting more than 70 percent of their foul shots just three times this season.
Catching Up on Cal Poly Pomona
The Broncos come into Thursday's matchup in fourth in the CCAA, boasting an 8-1 overall record and a 4-1 mark in league play. Cal Poly Pomona is coming off its only loss this season, a 78-64 setback at the hands of undefeated UC San Diego on Dec. 30. The Broncos enter the weekend with the fifth-best offense and third-best defense in the CCAA, averaging 67.1 points per game while allowing just 56.3. Thursday's matchup will also pit East Bay's second-best field-goal percentage defense against the second-best shooting team in the league, as Cal Poly is hitting 42.9 percent of its shots from the field so far. Reigning CCAA Player of the Week, Megan Ford, is pacing the Broncos, averaging 14.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, both of which rank among the top five in the league. Meanwhile, Sarah Semenero is second on the team with 12.3 points per game and is one of the top three-point shooters in the conference. Last year, the Broncos swept the season series with East Bay before going on to topple Cal State Monterey Bay in the CCAA Tournament title game.
Gauging the Gators
San Francisco State enters the weekend tied with the Pioneers for ninth in the league standings with a 1-4 CCAA record and has posted a 2-9 overall mark so far. The Gators are looking to snap a three-game losing streak to end 2011 and are set to meet Cal State Monterey Bay on Thursday night. Nicole Hicks leads the Gators with 10.6 points per game and 25 steals while shooting 95 percent from the charity stripe. Freshman Farrah Shokoor is leading the SF State rebounding effort with 6.5 boards per game, while Lauren Varney has a team-leading 12 blocks this season. During the 2010-11 campaign, the Gators picked up a pair of wins over the Pioneers, including a 46-38 win in San Francisco that saw SF State hold East Bay to a season-low five points in the first half before holding off a late push to pick up the win.
Battle of the Bay
Saturday's matchup with San Francisco State will mark the first installment of the Battle of the Bay rivalry of the 2011-12 basketball season. The East Bay women will be looking for its first win over the Gators since the Battle of the Bay started when the Pioneers joined the CCAA during the 2009-10 campaign. Over the past two years, SF State has claimed four close victories, never beating the Pioneers by more than eight points and winning by an average margin of just 6.75 points. The two teams will meet again during Homecoming Week at Cal State East Bay on Feb. 10 at Pioneer Gym.
Looking Ahead
Cal State East Bay continues its four-game road trip next week when it travels to league leader UC San Diego and Cal State San Bernardino. After completing the trip, the Pioneers return home to Hayward to play host to Chico State and Cal State Stanislaus to round out the first half of the CCAA season on Jan. 20 and 21, respectively.
