HAYWARD, Calif. – The 2023-24 season officially started Friday evening for the Cal State East Bay women's basketball team. In overtime, the Pioneers lost 70-63 to Central Washington in the opener of the Pioneer Conference Challenge.
The Pioneers jumped out to an early lead of 17-9 after the first quarter.
Payton Sterk and
Jaela Richardson had four points apiece in the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, the Wildcats cut into the CSUEB lead, outscoring the Pioneers, 18-14. CSUEB led 31-27 at halftime.
The Pioneers outscored CWU by a point in the third quarter to maintain a lead, but the Wildcats charged back in the fourth quarter, outscoring CSUEB, 15-10 to finish regulation at 55-55.
After both teams reached a 62-62 score in overtime with less than two minutes left when Richardson made a layup, the Wildcats finished the overtime period with an 8-1 run, as CWU won 70-63.
- Payton Sterk led the Pioneers in scoring with 21 points, going 6-for-15 from the floor, with a 3-pointer and eight free throws.
- With three assists each were Sterk and Abigail Cooper.
- Taylor Linzie had a team high 13 rebounds for the Pioneers and had a block with two steals.
- As a team, Cal State East Bay shot 37.5 percent from the floor and 27.3 percent from beyond the arc.
- Cal State East Bay had a 47-46 rebounding advantage on Friday.
Cal State East Bay head coach
Jenny Thigpin following Friday's season opener:
"It was a great way to start the weekend as we came out with urgency in the first half and put ourselves in a great position to win the game. Unfortunately we did not take car of our job on the boards and gave them too many second chance [opportunities] and didn't capitalize on the offensive end."
Cal State East Bay: 0-1
Central Washington: 2-2
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UP NEXT FOR CAL STATE EAST BAY |
On Saturday, the final day of the Pioneer Conference Challenge takes place at Pioneer Gymnasium. The tournament finale features the Pioneers hosting Northwest Nazarene with a tipoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
