LOS ANGELES, Calif.--- The Cal Poly Humboldt Lumberjacks dropped their final game of the season against the Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles 79-72 on Saturday afternoon in the Cal State LA University Gym. Sara Ahmadpour and Jayci Bayne led the way with 16 points each. Bayne added 13 rebounds to secure a double-double along with four steals while Ahmadpour added six rebounds and two assists in the loss. The 'Jacks finish the season with an overall record of 9-17 and 7-14 in CCAA play.

The Golden Eagles got out to a hot start, jumping out to an early 10-2 lead behind 3-pointers by Lily Buggs and Nicole Flennaugh. The North Coast squad battled back and finished the quarter on an 11-4 run. An 3-pointer by Ahmadpour with nine seconds remaining cut the deficit to one as Humboldt ended the first quarter trailing 14-13. The 'Jacks took their first lead of the game when a Kaz Parks trey put Humboldt ahead 16-14 with 9:45 remaining in the first half. The Golden Eagles responded by going on a 13-2 run over the next three minutes of action to lead by nine. Another Parks 3-ball sparked another Lumberjack rally and Kacie Slover hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to just one, 31-30, with under four minutes remaining. Los Angeles finished the half outscoring the Green & Gold 15-8, including three 3-pointers in that stretch, to take a 46-38 lead heading into the locker room at the half.

Cal State Los Angeles kicked off the second half with a layup by Jada Johnson to take their first double digit lead of the game. An old-fashioned 3-point play by Ahmadpour cut the gap to just five, 49-44, with six minutes left in the third frame of action. Just thirty seconds later, Ahmadpour hit a trey and Madison Parry hit a free throw to cut the lead to just one, 49-48. The 'Jacks outscored the hosts 17-13 in the third quarter to enter the final frame down 59-55. Humboldt took the lead in the fourth quarter behind back-to-back 3-balls from Ahmadpour and Bayne. With 8:30 remaining, Bayne hit another field goal to give the 'Jacks a three point advantage. Humboldt held on to a three point lead for the next 2:15 until a trey by LA's Raya Smith tied things up at 65. Los Angeles scored six unanswered points before Gracie Lee hit a layup to make the score 71-67 with 2:30 remaining in regulation. A little over a minute later, Madison Parry hit one of her two free throws to close the gap to three, but fouls and free throws for the opponents proved to be the deciding factor. The Golden Eagles went a perfect 8-8 from the line over the final 1:10 of the game. A missed 3-pointer by Parks and failure to follow up by Parry that was rebounded by Buggs with 18 seconds remaining put the game away, as the 'Jacks put Buggs on the line for two free throws. She netted both to close the game for Los Angeles, who came away with the 79-72 win in the regular season finale. 

NOTABLE STATS:
-Jayci Bayne had her first career double-double for the Green & Gold with 16 points and a career high 13 rebounds. She also had a career high four steals.
-Sara Ahmadpour scored 16 points while going 6-14 from the field. She also had six rebounds, two assists and a steal. 
-Madison Parry scored 13 points to go with five rebounds.
-Kacie Slover had a career high 11 points off the bench while shooting 5-8 from the field.
-The Lumberjacks carried slight advantages in points off turnovers (18-17) second chance points (17-14) and points in the paint (30-22) but were outscored in bench points (21-15) and fastbreak points (22-4).

Humboldt completes the 2022-23 campaign with a final record of 9-17 and 7-14 in CCAA play, good enough for a ninth place finish in the regular season conference standings. Cal State Los Angeles ends the regular season with a record of 19-8 and 16-6 in conference play. They advance to the conference tournament next weekend as the third seed, where they will face off in the first round against No. 6 seed Sonoma State (16-12, 13-9 CCAA).