After winning the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) conference tournament two years in a row, it was shocking to see the California State East Bay Women’s basketball team lose in the first round.

On Tuesday, East Bay faced off against the Humboldt State Lumberjacks (16-12 overall, 15-8 conference) in the first round of the CCAA playoffs.

The Pioneers played the Lumberjacks once before in conference play on Feb. 1 where they lost 76-73 in overtime.

When the two teams play each other, it’s full of competition. East Bay only lost by one point in this years first round CCAA conference meeting, as they lost by a score of 54-53.

“We could’ve done better,” senior guard Bri Guillory said. “We have to finish our game out. A lot of our losses come in the last two minutes of the game and so did this one.”

Junior guard Elayshia Woolridge agreed with Guillory, “We just struggle to close games out, it beat us up.”

The game remained close the entire time and it looked as if it could either way.

East Bay shot well in the first half as they were 50 percent from the field on 14-of-28 shooting. However, their shots from behind the three point line wasn’t as good, with a 27.3 percent. Humboldt wasn’t any better as they shot 22.2 percent from the three point line, which helped East Bay stay in the game.

The second half was a much different story for both teams.

Both teams shot under 30 percent from the field in the second half and under 15 percent from behind the three point line. The game came down to who would be better at the free throw line.

“There’s always a quarter or half where we don’t score as much and it hinders us from winning obviously,” Guillory said. “It just comes down to our will to grind it out and wanting it more.”

Humboldt took control most of the third quarter, leading by as much as 11 points with just just under four minutes left in the quarter, but the Pioneers kept fighting and managed to cut the lead to four points.

Once the fourth quarter began, both teams came out focused and ready to compete.

The Pioneers were able to recover from Humboldt’s advantage and took the lead with two and a half minutes on the clock when junior forward Savannah McGill drove in the paint to get a lay up and put the Pioneers up 53-52.

Unfortunately, that would be the last points East Bay would score in the game and the Lumberjacks were able to secure the win by making two free throws in the final minute, giving them the 54-53 win.

The win could be attributed to the number of foul shots Humboldt was given, considering they were a perfect 11-for-11 from the free-throw line in the half.

Both teams played extremely well on defense, given the low scoring game and the Lumberjacks were lucky enough to defeat the two time defending champions.

Sophomore forward Morgan Greene had her 21st double-double of the season with 17 points and 14 rebounds. McGill had 10 points and five rebounds, as she shot 5-for-9 from the field.

The Pioneers’ season is officially over and they ended the season with a record of 16-13 overall and 12-11 in conference. This was their sixth year straight with a record over the .500 mark.