SAN MARCOS, Calif., -- The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team kick started 2020 with a huge 65-61 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) road victory over No. 24 Cal State San Marcos, Thursday night in The Sports Center.
 
The true tale of the game for the Pioneers was in the fourth quarter. Trailing 35-50, to start the final quarter of action, CSUEB found their shooting touch by going 12-for-16 from the field and 5-of-6 from the foul line. In total the Pioneers scored 30 points in the fourth quarter while holding the Cougars to just 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting, including 0-of-5 from three-point range.
 
"We had a complete team effort tonight," expressed head coach Shanele Stires. "I was not pleased with the way we came out to compete in the second half but everyone kept their poise and found a way to win a tough game against a high level opponent on the road. When the game was on the line, we had some young players and veterans show they have the heart of champions. It was an incredible way to start the new year."
 
Madison Schiller came up huge for East Bay down the stretch of the ballgame scoring 13 of her team high 17 points in the fourth quarter. Her biggest basket of the contest came with the Pioneers trailing 61-59. Schiller found herself alone on the left wing with no defenders around her and proceeded to convert the go-ahead three-pointer with just 51 second left in the game. During the next San Marcos possession Schiller came up with a crucial block on an Akayla Hackson jumper that led to a jump ball with the possession arrow in the Pioneers favor.
 
Schiller finished with a team-best 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting, six rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal.
 
With the win, the Pioneers widen the gap in the CCAA Standings after knocking off their closet opponent in the Cougars. CSUEB improves to 7-1 in conference action with a 11-3 overall mark so far this season. The Pios also racked up their third CCAA Game of the Week victory in as many tries, each time going against the team positioned directly below them in the league standings.
 
Faith Turner had a huge game for the Pioneers notching 15 points while grabbing a team high seven rebounds. She shot 5-of-7 from the field and went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Turner helped East Bay dominate San Marcos on the boards, 45-29 for the ball game.
 
The Pioneer reserves were a major factor in the contest as they outscored the Cougar bench 24-5. Celeste Almendarez paced the Pioneers bench with a career best 11 points to go along with six rebounds and two steals across 18 minutes. Mina Tameilau returned to the lineup after a six game absence due to injury and notched a career best nine points. Tameilau went a perfect 3-of-3 from the field, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Zhane Duckett provided the Pioneers defense with maximum effort recording a career high four steals in the game.
 
"I'm very proud of this group and the way they continuously show up and keep competing, even when things were not going our way," explained Stires. Coming back after being down 15 in the fourth quarter shows the heart and character of our team. I'm excited to see how we can continue to improve. I believe our best basketball is still out in front of us."
 
The Pioneers will wrap up their weekend road trip with another match against one of the top teams in the CCAA when they visit UC San Diego at RIMAC Arena Saturday afternoon at 5:30. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.