HAYWARD, Calif. -- In a matchup between the defending California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) champions and the defending PacWest Conference champions, the Cal State East Bay women's basketball team was victorious over California Baptist by a final score of 82-78 on Tuesday at Pioneer Gym.
The Pioneers improve to 7-5 for the season after winning their third straight contest, and wrap up their non-conference slate with a 4-2 record.
East Bay came out on top of the back-and-forth game thanks in large part to an outstanding shooting performance from beyond the three-point arc. The Pioneers went 11-for-22 as a team for an even 50 percent.
Janae Chamois, who scored a career-high 22 points and fell one short of the school record with six three-point field goals, and
Savannah McGill, who was a perfect 3-for-3 from deep, did most of the damage.
After an extremely tight first quarter, Chamois and
Morgan Greene led the Pioneers on a 9-2 run midway through the second period to put them up four. In the final seconds before halftime,
Kayley Hsiung missed a three-pointer from the right wing. CBU's Emma Merigglioli was unable to handle the long rebound, allowing
Kayla Blair to steal the ball, turn around, and nail a three-pointer at the buzzer. That gave East Bay a six-point advantage at the break, the largest lead for either team to that point.
Another triple by Chamois early in the third quarter gave the Pioneers their largest lead of the evening at seven, but the Lancers quickly rallied back and eventually grabbed a lead of their own midway through the period. After that, it was a one-possession game for virtually the entire second half.
Elayshia Woolridge turned in a clutch effort down the stretch, scoring 13 points in the second half. She also made the biggest bucket of the game for the Pioneers. After McGill put CSUEB ahead by three with under two minutes to play, the Pioneers got a defensive stop then extended their shot clock on the other side of the floor with two offensive rebounds. Then with 38 seconds left, Woolridge took it into the lane and buried a short jumper. That put the Pioneers up by five, and allowed them to seal the game at the free throw line in the final seconds.
Woolridge finished with 19 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and two steals, going 8-for-16 from the floor. The assist and rebound totals are both season highs for the junior, who has now scored in double figures seven straight games.
Greene boasted yet another dominant effort on the glass, matching her career high with 18 rebounds. She also scored 21 points on 10-for-19 shooting, her third time this season surpassing the 20-point mark. The redshirt sophomore has now recorded eight double-doubles this season, which leads the CCAA and ranks among the top five in the nation.
McGill finished with 10 points and pulled in seven boards in 18 valuable minutes off the bench. McGill, Greene, Woolridge, and Chamois combined for 72 of the team's 82 points in the victory.
Next up, the Pioneers return to their CCAA schedule and close out the calendar year with a southern California road trip to visit Cal State San Bernardino on Friday, Dec. 29.
