ARCATA, Calif. – On the strength of a defense that limited its opponent to 40 percent shooting from the field and 22.2 percent from deep, the Humboldt State women's basketball team won its CCAA tournament first round game over Cal State East Bay 54-53 Tuesday night at Lumberjack Arena.

HSU led by 11 points midway through the third quarter, but the visitors rallied to take the lead in the game's closing minutes. Riann Thayer sank two free throws with 1:59 left to put the Jacks ahead for good.

Tyla Turner led the home team with 12 points and tied a team-high with six rebounds. Thayer had 11 points and six boards, and Mikaela Shannon had a strong 11 points off the bench in just 12 minutes of action. Jovanah Arrington also collected six rebounds in the victory.

The win improved HSU to 16-12 overall, 15-8 against CCAA opponents, and East Bay fell to 16-13, 12-11.

"First I want to send a huge thank you to our fans," said Lumberjack Head Coach Michelle Bento-Jackson. "They were awesome and were truly the sixth man for us tonight. Our team definitely fed off their energy, and we all greatly appreciate all of their support as they played a big part in our win."

After Thayer drew what Bento-Jackson called a pivotal charge and the play of the game at the 43-second mark, the game came down to the final 20 seconds after East Bay regained possession and took a timeout. The Pioneers had a chance to win the game, but were denied by HSU's stout defense. Turner purposefully committed a foul with three seconds to go, as the Jacks had one to give, and the Pioneers missed a layup with one second remaining to seal the win.

"We kind of have a saying on our team that it's a 'Duke' moment," said Bento-Jackson about the final East Bay possession. "What we're referencing with that statement is that it's all about defense. It's about lockdown, intense, getting a stop on defense."

Bento-Jackson praised her squad emphatically for being so locked-in on defense and getting defensive rebounds down the stretch, as they held the Pioneers scoreless for the last 2:30 of the game.

"It was going to be intense," said Thayer. "There was no doubt that East Bay was going to come in and want it, but we had to want it more. I felt like we did a great job having that intensity throughout the game, going for loose balls, and it came down to a defensive stop. That's how we love to play, because we're all about defense."
The Pioneers came out and took a 15-12 lead after one quarter, and were able to keep a four-point advantage several times in the second quarter, but the teams went into halftime deadlocked at 33.

HSU came out of the blocks with a nine-point run in the third, and then took its largest lead of the night with 3:48 left in the quarter, 45-34, on an Arrington 3-pointer. The Pioneers steadily climbed back into the game, down just 47-43 going into the fourth.

Neither team found much of an offensive groove in the final quarter as the visitors edged HSU 10-7, but the Jacks scored just enough to outlast the Pioneers.

"This is a great win for our program," said Bento-Jackson. "I am incredibly proud of our team and so happy for them. They fought extremely hard tonight and were engaged for 40 minutes. We didn't have a great offensive second half yet we stayed focused and intense on the defensive end which ultimately won the game for us. We will enjoy this win tonight but all our heads are focused on Pomona."

The Jacks will hit the road to take on Cal Poly Pomona on Friday with an 8:05 p.m. tip time.