ARCATA, Calif. – Humboldt State women's basketball's 8-for-11 first quarter shooting unfortunately did not carry over into the second or third quarters. After jumping out to an early lead, the Lumberjacks (11-12, 8-8) returned to .500 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association after Cal State East Bay (20-4, 14-2) was able to comeback and win, 61-50, on Thursday night.
 
"They are the number one defensive team in the conference, and you can see that," said Head Coach Joddie Gleason. "Nothing was easy. In the first quarter, we got freed up and hit some shots, but in the second and third we just didn't hit them."

The Jacks opened the game with a quick 7-2 lead, five of which came from senior Jessica Johnson. The lead grew to as large as eight points on two occasions in the opening period, once when Neika Puryear hit from outside to put HSU ahead 15-7 and again when A'Jaee Foster closed out the period with a jumper to make it 20-12 after one.
 
A 10-0 run early in the second period gave East Bay its first lead of the game, 24-22. The Pioneers would push it to four points at the break, 33-29.
 
The third quarter was all Pioneers again. The visitors opened the period with 12 of the first 15 points and led by as many as 13. The Green and Gold just five points in the third, and entered the final period down, 45-34.
 
Fourth quarter comebacks are no stranger to these Jacks. Each of the last four HSU victories have come when trailing in the last minute of the fourth quarter, including a 16-point fourth quarter deficit that Humboldt overcame last Saturday at Sonoma State.
 
The Jacks scored the first five points of the fourth to cut the Pioneer's lead to just six, 45-39, with 7:36 remaining. East Bay held HSU to 19.2 percent shooting after intermission (5-for-26), eliminating any comeback hopes Humboldt had.
 
"They don't make many mistakes on the defensive ends," said Gleason. "They are a West Region quality team. I don't think it had anything to do on our end as far as preparation or execution. We didn't hand it over to them, it is just a really good team that hit shots."
 
Johnson finished with a team-high 11 points, followed by Puryear's eight. Teylor McMiller tied her career-high with four blocks to go along with her six points.
 
Humboldt State returns to the hardwood on Saturday to host Cal State Monterey Bay. The 5:30 p.m. game will also be the annual Play4Kay night where both teams will be wearing pink to raise breast cancer awareness.