HAYWARD, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's basketball team was unable to get a season-ending victory, falling 75-69 to Cal State East Bay on Saturday night inside Pioneer Gymnasium.
The Bobcats finish the season 8-21 overall and 5-17 in CCAA play.
Despite the loss, the Bobcats forced 18 turnovers and collected 13 steals.
Sarina Nagra led the Bobcats with 21 points for her eighth 20-point game of the campaign. She hit two more three-pointers and finishes the season with 62 made triples, the second most by any Bobcat in a season. Also of note, she passed Courtney Danna for tenth in program history with 64 career starts.
Elise LeBeau scored a career-high 18 points in her final collegiate game highlighted by shooting 66% (4-6) from downtown. She also grabbed a season-high six rebounds and added three steals and two assists. LeBeau shot 100% (4-4) at the charity stripe.
Nicole Lukito finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds for her 50th career double-double and her 15th of the season. She shot 69% (6-9) from the field and hit one of her two three-pointers, keeping her three-point field goal percentage at a program single-season record 50% (22-44) on the campaign. Also of note, she started all 29 games for UC Merced this season which is the most by any Bobcat since the 2018-19 season. She tied Kayla Polman overall for sixth in program history with 70 career starts.
Paloma Ramirez closed her collegiate career registering a double-double with 10 points and a season-high 13 rebounds. She supported her fourth career double-double with two steals and two assists. Ramirez will graduate from UC Merced as just the fourth player in program history to score over 800 points and haul in 500 rebounds in her career. She finished second in program history with 104 career games played.
Jazzy Beltran pitched in five points, five assists, and two steals. With her assists output, Beltran has passed Deyliana Lewis and moves into a tie with Alexis Wu for seventh in program history with 162 career assists.
Sydney Corder Boyd recorded two steals.
UC Merced struck first in the season finale when Lukito came up with a steal and buried a three-pointer off an assist from LeBeau. The Bobcats pushed the lead to 9-2 behind back-to-back three-point plays from Nagra, one from beyond the arc and the other from the free-throw line. Cal State East Bay scored two straight to cut into the deficit, but Ramirez kept the Bobcats in front with a layup at the 4:36 mark to make it 11-6. The teams traded baskets over the final four minutes, with Lukito and Ramirez both scoring. The Pioneers pulled within one,13-12, and then eventually tied the game at 15 with one minute remaining. Cal State East Bay took their first lead at the foul line, sinking two free throws with 24 seconds remaining to carry a 17-15 lead at the end of the first period.
The Pioneers opened the second quarter with back-to-back layups to extend their lead to 21-15. Nagra got the Bobcats on the board at the 7:02 mark off an assist from Flores, and Ramirez followed by cleaning up her own miss to pull UC Merced within two, 21-19. After a Cal State East Bay triple midway through the quarter, Nagra knocked down two free throws and LeBeau connected from deep to tie the game at 24. The Pioneers responded with five straight points to move back in front, 29-24, but a free throw at 2:31 would be their final points of the half. The Bobcats closed the quarter on a 7-0 run, capped by a Nagra three-pointer assisted by Beltran, to take a 31-29 lead into the break.
Cal State East Bay tied the game at 31 on its opening possession of the second half, but Lukito answered with back-to back baskets, one assisted by Beltran and the other by Ramirez, to put UC Merced back up 35-31. The teams traded scores throughout the middle stretch, with the Pioneers tying the game at 40 and then again at 42. Beltran found Nagra for a bucket to give the Bobcats a brief two-point advantage, but Cal State East Bay took the lead midway through the quarter, hitting a three-pointer to go up 45-44. Another layup would extend their lead, but Nagra tied the game at 47, knocking one down from deep off an assist from Boyd. LeBeau converted two free throws at the 3:10 mark to give UC Merced their final lead, 49-47. The Pioneers closed the frame on a 9-3 run, with Lukito and LeBeau accounting for the Bobcats' points at the line, to take a 56-52 lead into the final quarter.
UC Merced kept fighting but couldn't get any closer than four points. The Pioneers continued with a 6-2 run into the fourth quarter, during which Nagra split a couple of attempts at the foul line. Cal State East Bay led 62-54 at the 8:35 mark. The Bobcats limited the Pioneers to just a layup and a free throw over the next five minutes. During that time, LeBeau hit from deep, Ramirez scored in the paint and Lukito added a layup to cut the deficit to 65-61 with 4:27 remaining. Cal State East Bay answered with another 6-1 run to push the lead to nine points, 71-62, the largest lead for either team on the night. With two minutes remaining, Nagra converted a layup and LeBeau scored the final two baskets for the Bobcats; a layup with 45 seconds left and a triple in the closing moments. Cal State East Bay finished the game at the free-throw line, securing a 75-69 victory.
UC Merced held Cal State East Bay to just a .397 field goal percentage.
UC Merced's first season in the CCAA and NCAA Division II comes to a close. The Bobcats swept the season series against Cal State Dominguez Hills and knocked off three other CCAA opponents once, including Stanislaus State.
Stay up to date with UC Merced women's basketball by following the team on X and Instagram at ucmercedwbb.
