East Bay comes up short in loss to Sonoma State

  • December 19, 2010

HAYWARD, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team made another valiant comeback but came up just short in a 60-56 loss to Sonoma State on Sunday at Pioneer Gym. The Pioneers (0-8, 0-4 CCAA) closed a 20-point second-half deficit to two points but ran out of time in the defeat.

"The team never gave up," CSUEB Head Coach Suzy Barcomb said. "We continued to make adjustments defensively. We battled to the very end. I just wish the team would get the ultimate reward, a win, for their persistence in working to improve as a team."

The Pioneers saw three players reach double figures in scoring, led by 13 points from senior guard Claudia Nelson. Sophomore forward Lauren Lucchesi and freshman guard Sarah Finlay each added 11 points, with Lucchesi going 4-for-7 from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point range. Sophomore forward Marlene MacMillan led the East Bay rebounding efforts for the seventh time this season, posting her fourth double-digit rebound game, pulling down 10 boards and nearly notching a double-double with nine points.

Aly Conway paced the Seawolves with a game-high 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and knocked down seven of her 11 shots from the charity stripe while pulling down six boards.

After falling behind by as many as 14 points in the first half, the Pioneers headed to the half trailing 29-17. East Bay shot just 20 percent in the first half, but matched the Seawolves on the boards with 21 rebounds.

The Pioneers came out of the break firing on all cylinders, with Lucchesi starting things off with back-to-back threes to cut the Sonoma State lead to just six, 29-23. The Seawolves answered with a 22-8 run that spanned nearly 11 minutes and saw them hit a pair of three-pointers and force three Pioneer turnovers. With 8:33 remaining in the second frame, Sonoma State held a comfortable 20-point lead at 51-31.

Facing its largest deficit of the game, Cal State East Bay responded with a full-court press and kicked up the pace of the game with impressive results. Lucchesi started off the 25-9 run with a three before Finlay scored six straight points to cut the Sonoma lead to 13, 53-40.

The Seawolves regained a 15-point advantage with a pair of free throws, but the Pioneers remained undeterred closing the gap to 12 before scoring nine straight points. During the scoring drought, Sonoma State committed three turnovers and only took one shot from the field, while the Pioneers got four points from MacMillan and a pair of steals from Nelson.

MacMillan's jumper with 1:17 remaining cut the Sonoma lead to just three points, 57-54, and after a free throw gave the Seawolves a four-point advantage, a Lucchesi jumper made it 58-56, the smallest Sonoma State lead since early in the first half. With just a minute left to play, East Bay played tough defense but could not grab the rebound on a missed jumper, giving Conway the chance to seal the victory with a second-chance layup with 25 seconds left to secure the 60-56 win.

Cal State East Bay now takes a mandatory 10-day break from action before returning to competition on Dec. 30 when it plays host to Humboldt State at Pioneer Gym.