HAYWARD, Calif. – Cal State East Bay quickly erased a seven point halftime deficit to defeat Sonoma State 60-53 inside Pioneer Gymnasium on Friday night. Five different Pioneers scored in double figures led by Tori Breshers with all of her game-high 14 points coming in the second half.

Senior Micah Walker shined brightest over the opening 20 minutes among the East Bay starting five. All 11 of her points came in the first half after knocking down 4-of-7 shots, including her only three point attempt of the game.

"Micah's desire and heart carried us the entire first half. She is in her senior year and realizes time is running out. She is fighting as hard as she possibly can, and as a coach, you can't ask for any more than what she gave tonight," praised East Bay Head Coach Suzy Barcomb.

Sonoma State (6-13, 4-11 CCAA) built its lead taking advantage of 14 East Bay turnovers. The Seawolves held a 14-1 advantage in points off miscues at halftime and found success from three.

SSU entered Friday averaging less than four 3-pointers per game. SSU met that number by halftime and finished 8-of-23 from long range at the end of the night. Taylor Acosta connected on 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and finished with a team-high 12 points.

While Walker shouldered the load in the first half, several teammates came to help out in the second. Shannon Bland knocked down a pair of 3-pointers within the first 80 seconds out of halftime with the second putting the Pioneers out front 31-30.

"We hit a few more shots than Sonoma in the second half and I think the two 3-pointers by Shannon gave us a huge lift," praised Barcomb of her point guard's hot start after the break. "Sonoma played smart and together as a team. They had us back on our heels the entire first half."

Neither team immediately pulled away but the Pioneers controlled the game on the boards. East Bay outrebounded Sonoma State 46-21 overall and grabbed 23 offensive rebounds to only nine for the Seawolves.

"We crashed the glass but did not capitalize on the offensive put-backs. We just gutted out a win and at this point in the season, winning ugly might become our theme," Barcomb added.
 
In the previous meeting in which Sonoma State edged Cal State East Bay by two, the Seawolves managed to score 38 of its 68 points in the paint. On Friday, the Pioneers held them to only 10.
 
Bland and Breshers scored all 24 of their combined points in the second half. Breshers continues to lead the league in blocks padding her conference total to 28. She became the second player in program history to record 100 career blocks on Friday.

Laci Effenberger knocked down 3-of-7 shots from beyond the arc and finished with all 13 of the team's bench points. Stephanie Lopez added 10 points, seven assists, and three steals in the win.
 
"I like that we have a bunch of different scorers. I think this is the most diverse team in scoring that we have had," said Walker on being one of five EB players with at least 10 points.

Cal State East Bay (13-8, 8-7 CCAA) will host San Francisco State (0-19, 0-15 CCAA) on Saturday, Feb. 7, at 5:30 p.m. SFSU fell on the road to Cal State Monterey Bay 67-45 on Friday evening.