HAYWARD, Calif. - It was a tale of two halves as the UC San Diego women's basketball team fell to Cal State East Bay, 57-74, in a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) matchup on Saturday at Pioneer Gymnasium. The Tritons led by as much as 17 points in the first half, but were outscored 44-21 in the second stanza of the game. CSUEB shot 48.1 percent (13-27) from the floor in the second half.
UCSD (3-4, 1-1) came out strong and jumped to its biggest lead of the game, 30-13, with 6:29 left in the first period after a Miranda Seto three-point basket and a pair of Stephanie Yano free throws.
CSUEB (5-2, 1-1) started to slowly chip away at the Triton lead and eventually made it a six point game at halftime, 36-30, after Shannon Bland made a layup to beat the buzzer.
The Pioneers extinguished the UCSD lead after Mo Fegan hit a shot from long distance to tie the game up, 41-41, with 14:13 left in the game. Fegan would hit another three on the very next posession for the Pioneers to put her team up by three.
Cassie MacLeod answered right back and made a three-pointer of her own to tie the game once again, 44-44, with 12:57 on the clock. However, it would be the last time that the Tritons saw a lead or a tie as the Pioneers pulled away and led the game the rest of the way. CSUEB outscored the Tritons 30-13 for the remainder of the matchup to earn a 17-point victory.
"Specifically in the first half, we had good shots and a good rhythm. In the second half we did not get the same shots. We struggled offensively and did not get key stops on the defensive end," said UCSD head coach Heidi VanDerveer. "We really need to continue to work to get better defensively to take some pressure off the offense. "
McKennan Bertsch almost recorded a double-double as she went for a game-best 18 points and added nine rebounds. Farrah Shokoor contributed seven points and game-high 18 boards. Shokoor has gone for 10 or more rebounds in four of the Tritons' seven games. Stephanie Lopez and Fegan led the way for CSUEB with 12 points each.
UCSD will have six days off before going on the road to face Cal Poly Pomona on Friday, Dec. 12 at 6 p.m.
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