CHICO, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team came up just short again Saturday night to close out a tough road trip, falling 70-64 at Chico State.
The Pioneers split their season series with the Wildcats and drop their third straight overall, falling to 13-11 with an even 9-9 mark in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) games. Chico improves to 12-9 and 10-7 in conference play.
Neither squad led by more than seven points at any point during an extremely tight contest at Acker Gym. The Pioneers were ahead for the majority of the first two quarters, hanging on for a 35-31 advantage at halftime.
Whitney Branham, the CCAA's leading scorer, heated up for Chico in the third and scored 10 of her team-high 17 points in the second half. Her three-pointer on the Wildcats' final possession of the quarter put the home team ahead 52-20 heading into the fourth.
The Pioneers fell behind by seven early in the final period, but they showed resiliency at the end of a long road trip.
Morgan Greene scored on two straight possessions, then
Kayley Hsiung hit a three, and then
Kayla Blair made one of two free throws to tie the score at 64-64.
They couldn't get over the hump, however, as Chico scored to take a two-point lead with 1:46 remaining. The Pioneers came up empty on their last three possessions, allowed the Wildcats to escape with the win.
It was another outstanding performance for Greene, who had one of her most dominant nights of the season offensively to pick up her 18th double-double. The sophomore racked up 29 points on 13-for-17 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Blair was also impressive, finishing 5-for-7 from the floor with 12 points and six boards. Unfortunately there weren't many highlights beyond those two, as the other three Pioneer starters combined to go 2-for-25 from the field.
The Pioneers won the rebounding battle narrowly and committed just 13 turnovers, but Chico simply shot the ball better. East Bay struggled from long distance, going 4-for-15, and did themselves no favors at the foul line with a 10-for-17 performance.
Bri Guillory added seven points on 2-for-3 from the field, and
Kincso Kelemen and
Janae Chamois scored five apiece.
Elayshia Woolridge tallied a team-high five assists, but the junior was held out of the scoring column.
The two-time defending CCAA tournament champion Pioneers are now in sixth place in the standings with just four regular season games remaining. Two crucial home games await them next weekend during Homecoming, with Cal State LA (10-7) scheduled for Friday, followed by Cal State Dominguez Hills (8-9) on Saturday.
