• Final Stats
SEATTLE -- Sarah Finlay scored 11 of her game-high 16 points in the second half Saturday, including a pair of free throws with 15 seconds remaining that clinched Cal State East Bay's 69-62 women's basketball win over Central Washington in the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic at Brougham Pavilion.
Central is now 1-1 on the season, wrapping up its season-opening tournament with a split. The Wildcats defeated Harding 88-68 in Friday's first round.
The Pioneers also finished 1-1 at the tournament, and are now 2-2 overall on the season. CSU East Bay lost 70-59 to host Seattle Pacific in the opening round.
Courtney Johnson led four CWU players in double-figure scoring with 13 points, but her team shot just 28 percent from the field.
The Pioneers shot 49 percent (23 of 47) from the floor, including 5 of 8 accuracy from 3-point range. Joining Finlay in double-figures were teammates Micah Walker with 15 points and Marlene MacMillan with 12.
One day removed from a 52 percent efficiency in head coach Shawn Nelson's regular-season debut, the Wildcats made just 19 of 69 field-goal attempts, including 8 of 30 from 3-point range, in the seven-point defeat. Central was almost equally cold shooting the ball in both halves, making just 28 percent in the first half and an even lower 27 percent after the break.
Central did have a good control of the basketball, securing 24 offensive rebounds and committing just 11 turnovers, but a 14-0 Pioneer run over 8:27 -- as part of a 26-9 spurt -- gave CSUEB control of the game and CWU playing catch up from there.
The Wildcats, who trailed 35-26 at halftime and 59-42 with 8:05 remaining, closed to within five on a 3-pointer by Johnson with 17 seconds to play. Finlay answered with two free throws at 0:15 to turn away the comeback bid.
Johnson, who played 27 minutes in a reserve role, finished with her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds despite shooting just 3 of 10 from the field. The same shooting woes plagued the rest of CWU's key offensive threats, although teammates Alex Dunn, Jessica VanDyke and Stacy Albrecht also reached double figures in scoring with 11, 11, and 10, respectively.
SPU and Harding meet at 5 p.m. Saturday in the final women's game of the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic.
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Sodexo Tip-Off Classic
Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
CAL STATE EAST BAY 69, CENTRAL WASHINGTON 62
CENTRAL WASHINGTON (1-1)
Russell 2-12 3-4 9; Moser 1-2 0-0 2; Albrecht 4-13 2-3 10; Dunn 3-15 3-4 11; VanDyke 3-8 2-2 11; Johnson 3-10 6-9 13; Gordon 2-3 0-0 4; Jacobson 1-4 0-0 2; Fettig 0-2 0-0 0; Burke 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-69 16-22 62.
CAL STATE EAST BAY (2-2)
Walker 4-12 4-4 15; Lucchesi 3-6 3-3 9; MacMillan 5-7 2-2 12; Blikra 2-2 0-0 5; Finlay 5-9 6-8 16; Coble 2-5 0-0 5; Terrance 2-6 0-1 4; Bettencourt 0-0 3-4 3; Li 0-0 0-0 0; Smith 0-0 0-0 0; Bravo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-47 18-22 69.
Central Washington...... 26 36 - 62
Cal State East Bay...... 35 34 - 69
3-point goals--Central Washington 8-30 (VanDyke 3-8; Dunn 2-6; Russell 2-8; Johnson 1-5; Jacobson 0-3), Cal State East Bay 5-8 (Walker 3-5; Coble 1-1; Blikra 1-1; Lucchesi 0-1). Fouled out--Central Washington-VanDyke, Cal State East Bay-Lucchesi. Rebounds--Central Washington 39 (Johnson 10), Cal State East Bay 41 (MacMillan 7). Assists--Central Washington 14 (Dunn 7), Cal State East Bay 13 (Coble 4). Total fouls--Central Washington 22, Cal State East Bay 18. Technical fouls--Central Washington-None, Cal State East Bay-Coble. A-198.
