Winter Game Notes - Week 3
Will Freedman and the Pioneers will look to open the CCAA season on the right foot this weekend. (Photo: Kelly Paris)
- December 2, 2010
HAYWARD, Calif. – The Pioneer basketball teams kick off the 2010-11 CCAA campaign this weekend on the road, traveling to San Francisco State for Friday’s Battle of the Bay before heading to Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday. Complete schedule and notes are below.
PDF: Winter Game Notes - Week 3
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
San Francisco State
Friday, Dec. 3 • 5:30 p.m.
Main Gym • San Francisco
Live stats:
Cal State Monterey Bay
Saturday, Dec. 4 • 5:30 p.m.
The Kelp Bed • Seaside
Live stats:
ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ To Open CCAA Slate on the Road: The Pioneer women’s basketball team will kick off the 2010-11 CCAA campaign this weekend, as it travels to San Francisco State on Friday before heading south to Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday night. ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ (0-2, 0-0 CCAA) opened the season with a pair of losses at the Lynda Goodrich Classic in Washington last weekend. East Bay is set to meet the Gators at 5:30 p.m. on Friday in the third edition of the Battle of the Bay and will take on the Otters on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at the Kelp Bed in Seaside.
Last Time Out: ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ opened the regular season with a 68-39 loss to a Western Washington team that was ranked 24th in the nation. The Pioneers were led by Lauren Lucchesi’s 11 points and Marlene MacMillan and Cassie Coble’s six boards each. The next night, East Bay improved their scoring by 20 points but fell to St. Martin’s, 70-59. After letting the Saints get out to a big lead in the first half, the Pioneers made several runs, closing the SMU lead to as little as seven points in the second half. Coble, Lucchesi and Nelson each contributed 10 points in the defeat.
Looking Ahead: East Bay next heads to Arcata for the CCAA/Pac West Challenge on Dec. 11-12, where it will face Dominican and Academy of Art. The Pioneers then return to conference play, hosting Sonoma State on Dec. 19 before taking 10 days off for the holidays.
Scouting San Francisco State: Both the Pioneers and Gators will be looking to pick up their first victory of the season on Friday. SFSU comes in to the weekend with an 0-3 record overall and an 0-1 mark in CCAA play following a 49-41 loss to CSUMB on Nov. 24. Senior Dominique Hunter leads the Gators with 9.3 points and 10.7 boards per game, while Nicole Hicks is averaging eight points and 5.7 rebounds per contest. The Gators were held to just 24 points in a loss to Western Washington on Nov. 20 and are averaging just 35.7 points per game so far. SFSU recorded a pair of wins over ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ during the 2009-10 season, including a 66-58 victory in San Francisco.
Eye on the Otters: Cal State Monterey Bay is off to a hot start, going 4-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play to kick off the campaign. The Otters are coming off an eight-day break from competition after picking up a 49-41 victory over SFSU on Nov. 24. CSUMB is outscoring opponents by nearly 16 points per game and has five players averaging at least eight points per contest, led by Erika Ward’s 10.5 points per game and 50 percent shooting from three-point range. Julie Heurung is pulling down 4.5 boards per game to lead the Otters’ rebounding efforts. Last season, Monterey Bay swept the series with the Pioneers, notching a 20-point win in Hayward and a 10-point victory in Seaside. The Otters are set to meet UCSD on Friday night at the Kelp Bed.
Picking Up Where She Left Off: After earning 2010 CCAA Freshman of the Year honors, Lauren Lucchesi has started the 2010-11 campaign on the right foot, earning a spot on the Lynda Goodrich Classic All-Tournament Team to open the season. The Modesto product averaged 10.5 points and 4.5 rebounds, while shooting 40 percent from the field over the two games. Host Western Washington and St. Martin’s shared the tournament title, while the Vikings’ Amanda Dunbar was named tournament MVP. WWU’s Gabby Wade, the Saints’ Dara Zack and Marelle Moehrle, and Montana State Northern’s Taylor Keller joined Lucchesi and Dunbar on the All-Tournament Team.
What’s In Store: The Pioneers return reigning CCAA Freshman of the Year Lauren Lucchesi, along with the conference’s sixth-leading scorer from 2009-10 in guard Claudia Nelson. East Bay also welcomes back five other returners while adding four freshman, including McDonald’s All-America nominee Sarah Finlay out of Reno High School.
2009-10 Rewind: ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ finished its first season in the CCAA with just two wins but saw Lauren Lucchesi collect CCAA Freshman of the Year honors and Claudia Nelson lead the league in steals. Lucchesi led the Pioneers with 7.6 boards and 0.9 blocks per game, ranking sixth and eighth in the CCAA, respectively. Meanwhile, Nelson led the team with 14.4 points and 2.2 assists per game, ranking among the top 15 in the CCAA in scoring, assists, steals and minutes played. The Pioneers notched their first win over a CCAA opponent in overtime over Cal State LA before picking up an upset win over eventual CCAA Tournament Champion Humboldt State in the last week of the season. Nelson capped the season with CCAA Player of the Week honors.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
San Francisco State
Friday, Dec. 3 • 7:30 p.m.
Main Gym • San Francisco
Live stats:
Cal State Monterey Bay
Saturday, Dec. 4 • 7:30 p.m.
The Kelp Bed • Seaside
Live stats:
Pioneers To Take On Bay Rivals to Open CCAA Slate: The ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ men’s basketball team returns to action this weekend, traveling across the bay to San Francisco State on Friday and to Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday. The Pioneers (1-2, 0-0 CCAA) are coming off a two-week break from competition after dropping a pair of games at the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic in Seattle. Both games this weekend are set for a 7:30 p.m. first tip.
Last Time Out: The Pioneers dropped a pair of games at the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic in Seattle, Wash., last weekend. ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ faced two tough opponents in No. 10 Seattle Pacific and Western Washington, both NCAA Tournament teams last season. East Bay opened the tournament with a 102-62 loss to the Falcons before coming back the next night to fall to the Vikings, 98-82, reaching their highest point total of the young season. The Pioneers were led by sophomore guard Mark Samuels, whose average of 17.5 points and 46 percent shooting from the field earned him All-Tournament Team honors. The Berkeley native posted a season-high 26 points and five assists in the loss to Western Washington.
Looking Ahead: ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ returns home to meet Notre Dame de Namur in nonconference action on Dec. 11 before jumping back into conference play when it hosts Sonoma State on Dec. 19 before an 11-day holiday break.
Gauging the Gators: San Francisco State comes into this Friday’s Battle of the Bay riding a three-game winning streak after defeating Simon Fraser and Notre Dame de Namur at the NDNU Thanksgiving Classic last weekend. The Gators (3-1, 1-0 CCAA) are led by Nefi Perdomo, last weekend’s tournament MVP, and Phoenix O’Rourke, an all-tournament selection. Perdomo is averaging 15.3 points per game and shooting 51.2 percent from the floor, including 44.4 percent from three-point range, while O’Rourke is adding 11.3 points and 3.5 assists per contest. SFSU swept the season series with the Pioneers in 2009-10, collecting a 69-65 victory over East Bay in San Francisco last year.
Monitoring Monterey Bay: The Otters enter the weekend with a 1-2 overall record and an 0-1 mark in conference play after dropping back-to-back games to San Francisco State and Menlo College. CSUMB opened the season with an impressive 50-47 victory over Division I Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Nov. 18. The Otters are led by the duo of Davion Berry and Ian Hosford who are averaging 17 and 11.3 points per game, respectively. Hosford is also leading the team with 6.7 rebounds per game and Berry is shooting 85.7 percent from the free-throw line, where he’s had 28 attempts in just three games. CSUMB was the first team to lose to the Pioneers in CCAA play last season, but got the home win over East Bay to split the series. The Otters are set to open the weekend against UC San Diego on Friday night.
2009-10 Review: The Pioneers finished the 2009-10 campaign with a 6-21 record. ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ finished 12th with a record of 3-19 in the CCAA. Among the three Pioneer conference wins were a pair of overtime victories against Sonoma State. Seven of the Pioneer defeats in conference play were by 10 points or less. As a team the Pioneers averaged 60.8 points while shooting 39.2 percent from the field. The Pioneers had 318 offensive rebounds compared to 303 for their opponents. Freshman Mark Samuels was the Pioneers leading scorer with a 9.7 point per game average. Samuels scored in double figures 10 times during the 2009-10 campaign and ranked ninth in the CCAA in scoring. Jun Uchida became the all-time assist leader in ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ history with 341, while Scott Knox established the Pioneer all-time three point record with 140.
SWIMMING
Idle
Last Time Out: The Pioneers finished third at a tri-meet with Fresno Pacific and Biola on Nov. 20 in Fresno. East Bay fell to FPU, 164-92, and to Biola, 182-86, the Pioneers had some impressive individual performances. For the second straight meet, Sara Bonino continued to impress. Bonino was the overall winner in both the 1650 (18:49.2) and 500 freestyle (5:30.54) events, swimming comparable times to her efforts from last weekend. She also competed in two relay events, which made her one of the busiest swimmers at the meet.Rachel Knowles was the other workhorse of the afternoon, racing to a third-place finish in the 200 breast (2:37.30) followed a short time later by second-place finishes in the 100-yard breast (1:13.85) and 400 IM (5:08.92).
Looking Ahead: The Pioneers return to action next weekend at the UNLV Invtitational in Las Vegas, Nev., Dec. 11-13.