SAN MARCOS, Calif. – On Saturday, Cal State East Bay women's basketball came up short in a CCAA game against (RV) Cal State San Marcos, falling 78-65 at The Sports Center.
 

GAME SUMMARY

The first quarter was an evenly played with leads traded throughout, but the Cougars escaped the first 10 minutes with a 13-12 lead over the Pioneers.
 
CSUEB regained a lead less than a minute into the second quarter, ahead 14-13 on a layup by Taylor Linzie, but the Cougars answered with 10 unanswered points for a nin-point lead at the 7:23 mark. The Pioneers were able to come within three points at the 3:34 mark on a 3-pointer from Linzie, but CSUSM hit the next two 3-pointers from Katie Fitzgerald and Malia Mastora reestablished the nine point lead. And after both teams traded five points each down the stretch in the quarter, Cal State San Marcos led 38-29 at halftime.
 
Payton Sterk hit a jumper for the first basket of the second half, and less than a minute later, the Pioneers were within five points, trailing 38-33 at the 8:10 mark of the third quarter after a pair of free throws from Lailah Carey. However, the lead grew to as much as 12 points for the Cougars in the quarter, as CSUSM led 56-48 heading into the final quarter.
 
At the 5:19 mark of the fourth quarter, Camryn Washington made a pair of free throws, bringing the Pioneers within four, behind 63-59. However, for the remainder of the game the Cougars finished the game on a run of 15-6 to pull away for a 78-65 win on Saturday afternoon.
 

NOTABLE STATS

• Sterk led CSUEB in scoring with 16 points, going 5-for-12 from the floor, with two baskets from beyond the arc and four free throws.
• Sterk also led the Pioneers in rebounds with seven.
• Also scoring in double figures for the Pioneers was Jaela Richardson with 12 points.
• Defensively, Linzie had two blocks and a steal.
• Jordan Vasquez from CSUSM led all scorers with 28 points and finished with a double double after 17 rebounds.
• CSUEB had a 43.4 field goal percentage to the Cougars' 41 percent.
• The Cougars had a 42-28 rebounding advantage.

POSTGAME QUOTE

Cal State East Bay head coach Jenny Thigpin following Saturday's game:
"I'm proud of the way we played on the road. We gave ourselves a chance with out effort but down the stretch things didn't go our way. We just have to continue to work hard and move on to next week."
 

RECORDS

Cal State East Bay: 7-10, 5-6 CCAA
(RV) Cal State San Marcos: 13-3, 10-1 CCAA
 

UP NEXT FOR CAL STATE EAST BAY

The Pioneers play a pair of home games next week, starting with a matchup against Cal State Monterey Bay on Thursday, January 25. Tipoff from Pioneer Gymnasium is set for 5:30 p.m. On December 2, the Pioneers defeated the Otters, 84-76 in overtime.