Women’s basketball goes streaking
January 7, 2016
Forget the Golden State Warriors, Cal State East Bay has a winning streak of its own.
The women’s basketball squad is 11-2 this season including a perfect 5-0 in California Collegiate Athletic Conference games. This includes a nine-game winning streak that started with a 68-51 victory over Notre Dame de Namur on Nov. 27 at Pioneer Gymnasium on the Hayward campus.
The success comes after the Pioneers put together a near championship season in 2014-2015. CSUEB went 20-11 last season and lost in the CCAA championship game to the number one seeded Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros.
The Pioneers haven’t lost a game since Nov. 21 when Metro State beat them 85-80 in overtime in Colorado. Despite the string of victories, CSUEB Head Coach Suzy Barcomb knows that her team has room for improvement.
“We want to be a team that defends and is relentless on the glass for the entire game,” Barcomb said. “We know there are going to be nights when we don’t shoot it particularly well and we must be able to rely upon our defense and rebounding ability to get stops.”
Senior forward Tori Breshers is currently the school’s third all-time leading scorer with just over 1,100 points. Breshers has dominated this season and leads the team in scoring, field goals, free throws, rebounds and blocks. Breshers is also third in the CCAA conference, scoring an average of 17.2 points per game and the Pioneers are fourth overall in total offense and defense. [mks_pullquote align=”left” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#992350″]”We want to be a team that defends and is relentless on the glass for the entire game”[/mks_pullquote]
CSUEB thumped rival San Francisco State 59-46 on New Year’s Day in Hayward. Senior guard Shannon Bland had 13 points, 5 assists and 2 steals in the win. Fellow senior guard Madison Craig chipped in 11 points and Breshers was the third leading scorer in the game for CSUEB with 10 points.
The Gators had some momentum after the first quarter as they took a one-point advantage into the second period, 18-17. However, a run by the Pioneers stalled the momentum for SFSU and CSUEB went into halftime with a 28-20 advantage after they outscored the Gators 11-2 in the period.
SFSU played the Pioneers tough in the second half: they cut the lead to just four points going into the fourth and final quarter. However, CSUEB got hot and outscored the Gators 16-7 in the final frame to secure the 13-point victory. SFSU fell to 4-7 overall and 2-3 in CCAA conference competition after the loss.
The Pioneers will take their winning ways on the road when they travel to Southern California for two conference games. Today they take on Cal State San Marcos (3-6 overall, 2-4 conference) at 5:30 p.m. and tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. They will face Cal State Los Angeles (3-8, 1-4).
