HAYWARD, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team played a strong first 21 minutes but got absolutely crushed on the boards and from the free–throw line down the stretch as Cal State East Bay came back to earn a 76–59 victory Saturday night in Pioneer Gym.

CSUMB got a career–high 16 points from junior guard Stephanie Sack (Petaluma/Santa Rosa JC) and 12 points and a career–high four steals from Jenna Bandy (Thousand Oaks HS). But 27 points from Tori Breshers and an 18–point, 11–rebound double–double from Stephanie Lopez more than compensated for East Bay.

The game featured 16 leads changes and three ties in the first 21 minutes before runs of 16–2 and 19–7 turned a 36–35 Otter lead in to a double digit lead for the Pioneers. With East Bay out–rebounding the Otters 47–31 and CSUMB shooting just one free throw over the first 33 minutes, a comeback run couldn't materialize.

After a shaky start, the Otters overcame an early 9–3 deficit thanks to a Bandy 3–pointer and jumpers from Kaila Turner (Pasadena/L.A. Valley College) and Alexa Sperling (Clovis/Buchanan HS). That began a string of three ties and 14 lead changes over the final 14 minutes of the first half.

The Otters took a 32–31 lead into intermission. The teams traded baskets on the first four possessions of the second half before the wheels fell off the Otter wagon. It took less than two minutes for an 8–0 run to turn CSUMB's final lead, 36–35, into a 43–36 Pioneer lead that wouldn't be challenged.

These teams will run it back in the conclusion of their home–and–home series next Saturday in The Kelp Bed. Tip–off will be at 5 p.m. and the finale of men's/women's doubleheader action.