HAYWARD, Calif. – The Central Washington women's basketball team (2-2) completes the come-from-behind overtime victory to defeat the hosting Cal State East Bay Pioneers (0-1) 70-63 to open the CCAA-GNAC Crossover. Sunny Huerta led all scores with 22 points. 
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
 

• Final: Central Washington 70, Cal State East Bay 63, OT
• Records: CWU (2-2), CSUEB (0-1)
• Location: Pioneer Gymnasium, Hayward, Calif. 

 
QUOTING HEAD COACH RANDI RICHARDSON-THORNLEY:
 
"I'm extremely proud of our team tonight for grinding out a tough win on the road against a good team. We showed a ton of grit and composure, especially when the ball didn't necessarily bounce our way. Now it's onto the recovery battle for another tough test against a good Stanislaus State team tomorrow."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 

• It took a while for both teams to find the bottom of the net, but the Pioneers broke through with a free throw to take the 1-0 lead with 7:17 left in the first quarter. 
• The Pioneers would get a jumper to increase their lead to 3-0 before Huerta would put the 'Cats on the board with a jumper of her own to make it 3-2. 
• Both teams would battle it out, tying the game at eight apiece before the Pioneers finished the first quarter on a 9-1 run to take the 17-9 lead. 
• East Bay immediately started the second quarter with a layup to give them their first double-digit lead of the night, 19-9. 
• Three layups by Annalee Coronado and a three-pointer by Huerta cut the Pioneer lead to 22-18 with 6:19 left in the second quarter. 
• The Pioneers immediately bumped their lead back up to 10, 28-18 with 5:20 left in the second quarter. 
• Five points by Asher Cai cut the Pioneer lead to lead prompting the teams to go back-and-forth with a Huerta jumper ending the first half with East Bay holding the 31-27 lead. 
• EB opened the second half with a layup to make it a 33-27 Pioneer lead. 
• The Wildcats would cut the Pioneer lead to five, only to see it balloon to 11 points after a pair of free throws with 4:35 left in the third quarter. 
• A three-pointer by Cai followed by a layup and a free throw by Coronado made it a 43-40 East Bay lead at the end of the third quarter, but two free throws with two seconds left in the quarter ended the third with a 45-40 Pioneer lead. 
• Huerta opened the fourth quarter with a jumper to make it a one possession game again, 45-42 in favor of East Bay. 
• The Pioneers would take an eight-point lead with 5:51 left in the fourth quarter after a five-point run. 
• Back-to-back layups by Coronado followed by a three from Cai put the 'Cats right back in the game, making it a 52-51 East Bay lead with 2:21 left in the game. 
• The teams would exchange buckets before a turnover and foul by the Pioneers put Capri Sims to the line where she would drain the pair of free throws to give the 'Cats the lead with 36 seconds left. 
• The Pioneers drew the foul with 31 seconds left to send them to the line where they would make only one of their two free throws to tie the game at 55 each, which would stand to send the game to overtime.
• The Pioneers wanted to end it right away, draining a three-pointer 15 seconds into overtime, but Sims would respond with her own three-pointer to keep the game tied. 
• Back-to-back buckets by Coronado would be responded by the Pioneers to keep the score tied. 
• Huerta nailed two free throws which was followed by the Pioneers only making one of their two, keeping the Wildcats in front 64-63. 
• A layup by Sims with 57 seconds left put CWU up 66-63. 
• A missed bucket from the Pioneers forced them to start fouling putting Cai to the line where she drained both free throws making it a two-possession game, 68-63 in favor of CWU. 
• Another foul from the Pioneers saw Coronado drain both free throw attempts to seal the game for the Wildcats 70-63. 

 
STATS FROM THE GAME: 
 

• Huerta led all scores with 22 points while also posting one rebound. 
• Coronado added on 19 points to go with four rebounds, three assists, and one steal. 
• Cai flashed one of two Wildcat double-doubles on the night posting 15 points, 14 rebounds, and two assists. 
• Sims had herself a game with the other double-double for the crimson and black with 13 points, 15 rebounds, and two steals. 
• Shelby Blodgett had one point, six rebounds, one assist, and one steal. 
• The Wildcats shot 30.9 percent from the floor, 21.7 percent from three-point range, and 88.2 percent from the charity stripe. 
• The Wildcats were outrebounded 47-46 but won the turnover battle with only 10 on the night compared to the 19 from the Pioneers. 

 
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
 

• This was the fifth ever meeting between the two squads with the Wildcats now leading 4-1 and on a three-game winning streak. 
• This was the first meeting in Hayward. 

 
UP NEXT:
 

• The Wildcats will wrap up the CCAA-GNAC Crossover with a showdown against Stanislaus State (0-0) at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow from inside Pioneer Gymnasium. The Warriors are playing Northwest Nazarene in the late game tonight in the crossover.