ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – Cal State East Bay finished Saturday night on the wrong end of a 68-66 decision to Sonoma State inside The Wolves' Den. Free throw woes proved costly as the Pioneers made just 12-of-22 second half free throws in a tightly contested conference battle.

"We didn't take care of the little things all night long. Unfortunately our missed free throws cost us the game tonight," said East Bay Head Coach Suzy Barcomb. "We had plenty of opportunities to earn the win, but lack of focus hurt us in a big way tonight."

Sonoma State (6-4, 4-2 CCAA) led by seven at the break after closing out the first half on a 16-5 run. Taylor Acosta, Hannah Sourek, and Madison Burroughs did most of the first half scoring with 24 of the team's 33 points on an efficient 10-of-15 shooting from the field.

East Bay's Tori Breshers carried the load with 10 of her team-high 24 points while season leading scorer Stephanie Lopez was held to just a single point. The second half was a different story as the Pioneers rallied quickly out of halftime.

Lopez would go on to score 17 second half points and her 3-pointer at the 16:33 mark gave East Bay a 35-33 lead. From that point on it became a back-and-forth battle until Sonoma State extended its lead to 11 points with less than three minutes left in regulation.

East Bay fought to the end as Alyssa Palma knocked down a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left cutting the deficit to 66-63. Breshers stole the ensuing Seawolves inbounds pass and made 1-of-2 free throws after being fouled to cut the gap to two points.

Acosta finished with a team-high 16 points for the Seawolves. Sourek finished with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Burroughs contributed 13 points and a team-high three assists in the win.

That was as close as East Bay would come in the final minutes as Somona State extended its winning streak to five. It also snapped a 3-game losing streak to the Pioneers with the victory.

Cal State East Bay (9-3, 4-2 CCAA) will host Cal State Dominguez Hills (10-4, 5-1 CCAA) on Friday, Jan. 9.