Brittani Jefferson's 16 points and eight rebounds weren't enough to stop East Bay from pulling off a 45-39 upset Tuesday night.
BOX SCORE
SEASIDE, Calif. — Call it hubris or the law of averages finally taking its toll. Whatever the case, the Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team paid the price for its recent trend of playing down to the level of lesser opponents by falling to Cal State East Bay, 45–39, Tuesday night in The Kelp Bed.
CSUMB (13–4, 10–4 CCAA) saw its seven–game winning streak snap and, with it, a chance to pull into a tie for second place in the CCAA race. East Bay (9–9, 7–7), meanwhile, reached the .500 mark for the first time since Nov. 30.
Brittani Jefferson (Palmdale/Antelope Valley College) led CSUMB with 16 points and eight rebounds. Brianna Terrance, who came into the game having made just two three–pointers on the season, came off the bench to go 3–for–5 from distance and lead all scorers with 18 points for East Bay.
The Otters led for most of the early going, building a six–point lead midway through the first half. But the Pioneers, who came into the game ranked No. 11 of 12 teams in the CCAA in three–point shooting, enjoyed unusual success from beyond the arc, making five of their first 10 three–point attempts to help build a 31–24 lead of their own nine minutes into the second half.
CSUMB once again found itself on the downside of its schizophrenic efforts from long range this season, making just two of its first 14 three–point attempts. The Otters were little better from the field in general, finishing 11–for–34 inside the arc and 29.4 percent for the game.
Such was the night for the Otters that even East Bay misses proved to be disadvantageous. With CSUMB desperately trying to claw its way back into the game, the Pioneers turned three missed free throws into offensive rebounds in the final 2:40 to help milk precious time from the comeback effort.
In all, East Bay finished with 12 offensive boards and a 44–31 edge on the glass overall. No team has out–rebounded the Otters by more in a regular season loss since Humboldt State claimed a 16–rebound advantage on Mar. 2, 2010.
CSUMB will look to bounce back into the win column Friday night when it hosts Cal State L.A. for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. The Golden Eagles enter the weekend one game behind the Otters in the CCAA standings.
GO OTTERS!
