HAYWARD, Calif. – The Humboldt State women's basketball team took the court with a purpose Thursday night as it defeated Cal State East Bay 78-57 in Pioneer Gym en route to the North Coast squad's third consecutive win.

The lead changed hands seven times in the first quarter, and it was Isamar Conde who scored a game-tying layup as the period came to a close to knot the score at 19-all. HSU jumped out to a 36-29 advantage to start the second period, but East Bay's defense shut out the Lumberjacks for the final 4:30 to make it 36-34 in favor of the Green and Gold at the half.

The Jacks scored six straight coming out of the break, but East Bay continued to battle. The home team answered with a 7-0 run and hung with HSU until Conde drained a 3-pointer to give the Green and Gold a 56-50 lead.

HSU outscored East Bay 22-7 in the final 10 minutes as the North Coast team held on for the 21-point victory.

"We had a slow start defensively, however, we did respond better the second half," said HSU Head Coach Michelle Bento-Jackson. "I thought we shared the ball extremely well and had great balance in our scoring. We certainly need to be more consistent in some areas but overall I'm proud of how we finished the game on the road against a good East Bay team"

Conde finished with a team-high 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting to go along with six boards. Alexia Thrower recorded her ninth double-double with 19 points and a team-best 12 rebounds. Jovanah Arrington added another 18 points, while Tyra Turner swiped a game-high six steals and dished out a season-best 11 assists.

The Green and Gold made the most of their offensive possessions as they finished the game with 21 assists to just six turnovers. HSU applied defensive pressure and forced the Pioneers into 22 turnovers which the Jacks converted into 27 points.

The Jacks will end their road trip Saturday as they take on Cal State Monterey Bay in the Kelp Bed at 1 p.m.