Women’s basketball lose two games at home

The Cal State East Bay women’s basketball team lost two home games in a row on Friday and Saturday at Pioneer Gymnasium in Hayward.

The Pioneers fell to Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday 69-55 and again to Cal State Los Angeles 71-63 on Saturday. CSUEB is now 9-5 overall and 4-4 in California Collegiate Athletic Association games this season.

The CSUDH Toros continued their impressive season as they controlled the game on Friday and improved to 12-4 overall and 7-1 in CCAA conference games.

The Toros made more than half of their shots in the first half and took a huge 19-point advantage into halftime. Senior guard Talia Rayford led the way for CSUDH in the first half as she compiled a game-high 14 points in the half. Rayford finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists.

“Talia provided great energy, leadership, defense, rebounding, scoring, you name it, she did it and had an outstanding game,” CSUDH Head Coach Molly Goodenbour said.

The Pioneers played the Toros better in the second half and outscored CSUDH 32-27 but the lead was too much for CSUEB to overcome in the half.

“They played very well and we didn’t remotely keep them off the glass,” CSUEB Head Coach Suzy Barcomb said. “We can’t give a team that many offensive boards and second chance points.”

Senior guard Stephanie Lopez led the way for the Pioneers as she amassed 14 points, four rebounds, and four assists in just 31 minutes on the floor. Junior forward Tori Breshers tallied eight points, four rebounds, and four blocks in the losing effort.

Saturday brought a new opponent and another chance for CSUEB to capture a conference victory. However, CSULA (5-7 overall, 4-4 conference) proved to be too much for the Pioneers to handle and left Hayward with a 71-63 road triumph.

Despite a game-high 24 points and five assists from Lopez the Pioneers still found themselves down at the half 32-28. CSUEB managed to stay close the entire game but 20 Pioneer turnovers and 22 made free throws by the Golden Eagles led to the 8-point conference loss for CSUEB.

Senior guard Aiwekhoe Okungbowa led the way for CSULA as she piled up 15 points and ten rebounds. Okungbowa was perfect from the charity stripe as she made all nine of her attempts from the line.

“Our 20 turnovers put us in a challenging spot,” Barcomb said. “Cal State L.A. took advantage of every single turnover tonight.”

The Pioneers will have to take their act on the road when they travel to Arcata to take on Humboldt State at 5:30 p.m. today. The Jacks are off to a near perfect start this season with a 12-1 overall record and a perfect 8-0 in CCAA conference games.

Saturday CSUEB will travel to Southern California to take on Cal State San Bernardino (9-3 overall, 5-3 conference) at 5:30 p.m. at Coussoulis Arena.