HAYWARD, Calif- Heading into their final regular season game, the Sonoma State women's basketball team knew they would need a win and some help to advance to the CCAA Championship Tournament. They took care of the first task on their own with a 68-65 win over Cal State East Bay. However, after intense deliberation by the conference that ended in a coin flip, the Seawolves were left out of the tournament field. They see their season end at 11-16, 9-13 CCAA.
Four teams, Cal State San Bernardino, Sonoma State, Cal State Stanislaus, and Cal State Dominguez Hills tied for seventh with 9-13 records. The four-way tie was broken based on head-to-head play, securing a berth for Cal State San Bernardino and eliminating Cal State Stanislaus.
In a two-way tie between Sonoma and Dominguez Hills for the eighth and final spot, all tie-breaking criteria were even, thus prompting a coin flip that was won by the Toros.
Knowing that, in a way, their fate was out of their hands, all the Seawolves could do was go out and win a ballgame on Friday. With this mindset, they came out blazing early, building up a 15-point first half lead on the strength of 41 first half points.
Their 41 points set a season-high for points in the first half, blowing out their old mark of 31. It was their second best half overall, bested only by their 43 second half points in the season opener.
Their 68 total points also tied a season-high established in the season opening win over Texas A&M International.
Late in the second, the Pioneers used a 16-6 run to slice the lead from 13 to three at 61-58 with :48 remaining. They would get one point closer at 65-63 with 17 seconds left, but the Seawolves were able to make three of four free throw attempts in the final seconds to hold on.
Stephanie Barnes led the Seawolves with 15 points and eight rebounds. Oly Larkin had 12 points and seven rebounds and both
Kelsey Wagner and
Jaclyn Bisordi posted nine points.
Cal State East Bay's Claudia Nelson led all scorers with 20 points while Lauren Lucchessi was tops with 13 rebounds.
Stay tuned to sonomaseawolves.com for more information about the CCAA Championship Tournament.
Box Score: Sonoma State 68, Cal State East Bay 65