Box Score LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.'s women's basketball team certainly had its hands full Friday night against one of the top defenses in the country.
 
The Golden Eagles had fits scoring against Cal State East Bay's tenacious defense before finally pulling away for a hard-fought 53-38 victory Friday night in a California Collegiate Athletic Association game in the Eagles Nest. Cal State L.A. (8-4, 3-2 CCAA) went on a 12-2 run to break a 30-30 tie in the second half and posted an important conference victory.
 
Cal State East Bay (3-5, 1-4 CCAA) entered the game No. 1 in the country in field-goal percentage defense and No. 24 in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 53.4 points per contest.
 
Cal State L.A. played some outstanding defense as well on Friday and limited Cal State East Bay to just 24.5 percent shooting from the field. Cal State L.A., after shooting just 22.2 percent in the first half, got hot late in the second half and wound up making 55.6 percent of its shots in the second period.
 
Tessondra Williams led the way with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists and took the game into her hands with the score tied at 30-30 with less than eight minutes to go. Williams converted on back-to-back three-point plays to break the tie and give the Golden Eagles the lead for good.
 
Lacey Gibbons had 11 points and Kelli Lewis had 10 points for the Golden Eagles. Gibbons (3) and Lewis (2) combined to knock down five 3-pointers, four of them in the second half, to spark the Golden Eagle offense.
 
Tori Breshers had eight points for the Pioneers, while Sarah Finley, Rachel Finnegan and Brianna Terrance had six points each.

Samantha Hansen had nine points and nine rebounds for the Golden Eagles.
 
Cal State L.A. shot 38.9 percent for the game (21-of-54), while Cal State East Bay made just 12 of its 49 attempts (24.5 percent). Cal State L.A. was 5-of-13 from behind the 3-point arc, while Cal State East Bay missed all nine of its tries. The Golden Eagles had a 41-34 rebounding edge, but also committed 21 turnovers to 19 for the Pioneers.
 
The Golden Eagles were 6-of-8 from the free-throw line, while the Pioneers were 14-of-21.
 
The teams struggled mightily on offense in a low-scoring first half that ended with Cal State L.A. holding a precarious 15-13 lead. After Cal State East Bay tied it at 19-19 early in the second half, Lewis hit a pair of 3-pointers during an 8-0 run that gave the Golden Eagles a 27-19 lead.
 
Cal State East Bay, though, responded with an 11-3 run and tied the game at 30-30 following a layup by Finnegan.
 
Williams then hit a driving layup and was fouled to break the tie and she hit a jumper and was fouled again to make it 36-30. After Marlene MacMillan hit a pair of free throws for Cal State East Bay, Gibbons hit a 3-pointer, Williams made a free throw and Williams and Lewis hit layups to stretch the lead to 44-32 with 3:30 to go.
 
Two more layups by Williams gave the Golden Eagles their biggest lead of the game at 53-36 in the final minute. Williams had 13 of her game-high 17 points in the second half.
 
Cal State L.A. will return to action on Saturday night with a home game against Cal State Monterey Bay.