Box Score Box score

SAN FRANCISCO - The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with a solid 64-39 victory over San Francisco State on the road on Saturday night. The Pioneers (5-8, 2-5 CCAA) had three players score in double figures and never trailed over the final 33 minutes of play to earn their first win after six close losses in the Battle of the Bay with the Gators. 

“This was a true team win, everyone contributed,” Head Coach Suzy Barcomb said.

A trio of East Bay players reached double digits in scoring, led by sophomore Brianna Terrance's 13 points, which marked her second consecutive game in double figures. Terrance went 6-for-8 from the field and added seven rebounds for the Pioneers, bringing her totals for the week to 27 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Marlene MacMillan joined Terrance, notching her second double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and pulling down a career-high 19 rebounds. MacMillan helped East Bay grab twice as many boards as SF State and shot 50 percent from the field on the night.

Sophomore Sarah Finlay bounced back from a rough game on Thursday to score 11 points off the bench for the Pioneers, going 4-for-7 from the field and 3-for-4 from the free-throw line. Lauren Lucchesi added eight points for East Bay, while Nia Bravo posted five rebounds. Of the 11 Pioneers who played, 10 scored at least two points and nine grabbed at least one board and East Bay got 34 of its points off the bench.

“Marlene had a monster game,” Barcomb said. “Brianna had a great night on both ends of the floor and our bench was great tonight.”

As a team, the Pioneers shot 43.9 percent from the field and a season-high 91.7 percent from the charity stripe. Though East Bay turned the ball over 19 times, it finished with a 53-25 advantage on the boards and hit 11 more field goals than the Gators. SF State shot just 25 percent from the floor and went to the free-throw line 12 times, hitting only 66.7 percent of those attempts.

A pair of Gators reached double digits in scoring, led by Nicole Hicks' 12 points. Michaela Booker added 10 points, while Charnay Bell led SF State with five rebounds. Angela Van Sickel's four steals led all players.

The Pioneers opened scoring and took a 5-3 lead early on before the Gators answered back with a 6-2 run that gave them a 9-7 advantage with 13:52 to play in the half. Trailing by two, East Bay regained momentum and put together a run of its own, sparked by a tip-in from MacMillan. The Pioneers then scored 11 straight points, including four from Finlay and a three from Cassie Coble to take an 18-9 advantage with 10:37 to play in the half. Though SF State ended the scoring drought with a jumper from Hicks and closed the East Bay lead down to three, 20-17, at the 8:14 mark. The Pioneers finished the half with a 15-5 run, however, opening up a 10-point lead at the break thanks to four points from MacMillan to close out the first frame.

The second half was all Pioneers, who never trailed by fewer than 12 points after opening the half with a layup from Lucchesi. East Bay held the Gators to just 14 points and 18.5 percent shooting in the second half, while knocking down 41.4 percent of their shots and posting 29 points. The Pioneers started the second frame with a 21-5 run to open up a 26-point lead, 56-30, with 6:22 to play. The run saw Terrance post nine of her 13 points, including five points in a one-minute span. Though SF State closed the gap to 21 points with 1:39 to play, East Bay finished the game off with four straight points, including a pair of free throws from MacMillan that rounded out scoring.

Cal State East Bay returns to action next week, when it continues its four-game road trip at UC San Diego and Cal State San Bernardino. The Pioneers are set to meet the No. 3-ranked Tritons on Jan. 13 before traveling to take on the Coyotes on Jan. 14.