East Bay falls to San Francisco State in CCAA opener

  • December 3, 2010



SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ women's basketball team dropped a 46-38 decision to San Francisco State in its conference opener on Friday night. The Pioneers (0-3, 0-1 CCAA) trailed by as many as 27, but made a late comeback in the loss.

The Pioneers were led by senior Claudia Nelson's 17 points, 15 of which came in the second half. Nelson went 2-for-4 from three-point range and racked up a game-high six steals. Freshman Maria Dinesen added seven points for the Pioneers, while Marlene MacMillan led all players with 14 rebounds, including seven offensive boards. Nicole Hicks' 13 points led the Gators, while Dominique Hunter posted a double-double, scoring 12 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.

San Francisco State opened the game with a 16-2 run, holding the Pioneers to just one bucket in the first 11 minutes of the first half. Neither team was very effective from the field, as the two squads went on a nearly five-minute scoring draught that was snapped by a bucket from the Gators' Lauren Varney. With 4:25 remaining Nelson broke through East Bay's seven-minute scoreless streak, drawing a foul and hitting the front end of a one-and-one situation to bring the score to 18-3.

San Francisco State answered, however, with a pair of buckets to take a 22-3 lead with three minutes remaining in the half. After a Dinesen free throw cut the lead to 22-4, Kaylaa Davis layup opened the Gator lead to 20 points for the first time in the half. Though the Pioneers hit one more free throw in the half, SFSU headed to the locker room with a 26-5 advantage.

The Pioneers finished the half with just one bucket from the floor and missed out on eight points from the free-throw line where they shot just 27.3 percent. On the other end, the Gators shot 34.4 percent from the field and recorded nine steals while out-rebounding East Bay, 28-21. Neither team controlled the ball well, as the two squads combined for 24 turnovers in the opening frame.

Marlene MacMillan scored the first bucket of the half and snapped a 12-minute scoring draught from the floor that extended back to midway through the first half. The Gators answered with five straight points before Nelson snapped a nearly six-minute Pioneer drought with a three, her first bucket of the game, to cut the Gator lead to 35-10.

After an SFSU layup made it 37-10, the Pioneers answered with eight straight points, including a pair of threes from Nelson and Dinesen. During the run, East Bay forced two Gator turnovers and pulled down a pair of offensive boards.

The Pioneers continued to work defensively and found their shooting touch over the next six minutes, turning the streak into a 17-3 run that included six points from Brianna Terrance and three Gator turnovers. Now leading by just 15, SFSU answered with a 6-1 run to take a 46-28 lead with three minutes remaining in the half.

A late push from the Pioneers saw East Bay put together a 10-0 run to cut the SF State lead to just eight points with 30 seconds remaining. The run saw the Pioneers force five turnovers and hit five straight baskets, however East Bay ran out of time to close the gap, turning the ball over just before the buzzer.

The second half was a different story than the first for the Pioneers, as they bounced back from 4.3 percent shooting to knock down 40 percent of their buckets in the second frame, including four threes. East Bay outscored the Gators 33-20 in the second frame, forcing 18 SFSU turnovers and out-rebounding it 20-17 in the final 20 minutes.

ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ returns to action tomorrow night as they take on Cal State Monterey Bay in Seaside. The Pioneers and Otters are set for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off at the Kelp Bed.