HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal Poly Humboldt Lumberjacks opened up 2024 on the road at the Cal State East Bay Pioneers for a CCAA match up. With both teams holding a 2-3 record in conference play, the Jacks and Pioneers were looking for a win to move up in the standings. In a game that saw 10 lead changes, Humboldt dropped a back and forth battle to East Bay with a final score of 54-47. Sara Ahmadpour stood out for the Jacks as she posted a line of 12 points, eight rebounds, four steals, and two blocks. 

After falling behind 9-2 early on, Humboldt went on a 14-5 run to close out the first quarter with a 16-14 lead. Both teams struggled to score to open the second quarter, as East Bay's Jaela Richardson made a jumper at the 6:18 mark and Humboldt's Sara Ahmadpour scored in the paint at the 4:45 mark. Ahmadpour collected all seven of her first half points in the second quarter and was the only Lumberjack to score in the second quarter as well. Humboldt found themselves down 27-23 to East Bay at the half. 

The Pioneers opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run to grab their largest lead of the game and go up 33-23 over the Jacks. Marley Johnson splashed a three-pointer to give Humboldt their first basket of the second half at the 7:25 mark. The Jacks proceeded to go on a 14-4 run to close out the third quarter with a 40-39 advantage over East Bay.

Similar to the third quarter, Marley Johnson opened the fourth quarter up with a shot from beyond the arc to help Humboldt regain the lead 43-42. With three minutes to go, Emilia Long picked up her 36th steal of the season and finished the play on the other end with a fast-break layup to make it a two-point deficit, 47-45. The Jacks struggled in the final minutes, while East Bay went on a 7-2 run to close the game out and defeat Humboldt with a final score of 54-47. 
 

Lumberjack Low-Down

• Sara Ahmadpour posted a stat line of 12 points on 42.7% shooting, eight rebounds, four steals, and two blocks
• Marley Johnson led the team with 13 points
• Emilia Long had eight points, five rebounds, five assists, and three steals
• Kenya Edelhardt was tied for the team-high of four steals on the night
• Both teams shot 32% from the field
• East Bay had more points off turnovers (23-18), second chance points (11-2), bench points (17-8), and points in the paint (26-23), but Humboldt had more fast break points (15-10)
• Being a one-point game to start the fourth quarter, the difference was East Bay shooting 42.9% compared to Humboldt's 14.3% in the final 10 minutes of action

Records
Cal Poly Humboldt (4-6, 2-4 CCAA)
Cal State East Bay (5-7, 3-3 CCAA)

Up Next
The Jacks will close out their first road trip of 2024 at San Francisco State (3-8, 2-4 CCAA) this Saturday for a 1:00 PM tip-off from the Main Gym at Don Nasser Family Plaza. 

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