SEASIDE, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team did everything it needed to to set up the game–winning shot—and even got two cracks at it—but a visit from the Grinch cursed the Otters with bad tidings that prevented one from falling, allowing Cal State East Bay to hold on for a 62–60 win Saturday night in The Kelp Bed.

Just as it happened when the teams met one week ago in Hayward, the Otters and Pioneers played hot potato with the lead. But where East Bay pulled away to win comfortably in the first meeting, the Otters gave themselves a glorious chance to win at the end this time.

A short Shannon Bland jumper gave East Bay a 62–60 lead with 31.8 seconds to play. CSUMB then milked the clock on the final possession before working a play that got sharp–shooter Stephanie Sack (Petaluma/Santa Rosa JC) a wide open look at a three.

Her shot didn't fall, but Jenna Bandy (Thousand Oaks HS) grabbed the offensive rebound with six seconds remaining. Eschewing a 2–pointer for the tie, Bandy pulled it back out looking for the winner, but the Pioneer defense recovered in time to prevent the Otters from getting another quality chance before time expired.

The Otters and Pioneers played through three ties and 16 lead changes in their first meeting. This time, the totals were seven ties and 10 lead changes, with six ties and five lead changes in the second half alone.

East Bay overcame the final CSUMB lead with a 7–0 run that put the Pioneers on top 55–52 with 4:40 on the clock. They extended their lead to six at 60–54 with 2:39 remaining when the Otters made their final push with Bandy and Sack leading the way.

A Bandy jumper made it a 4–point game before a pair of Sack free throws cut the deficit to 60–58. On the next East Bay possession, Bandy stripped Stephanie Lopez of the ball and fed Sack for the fastbreak layup to knotted the scored at 60–60 with 44 seconds remaining.

But Bland responded 18 second later, driving left to right into the paint for a short jumper that proved to be the final points of the game.

Sack led the Otters with 14 points, her third consecutive game in double figures. Bandy added 11 points. Both players chipped in four assists and two steals while freshman Alexa Sperling (Clovis/Buchanan HS) came off the bench to grab a game–high nine rebounds.

Tori Breshers, who had a double–double in the first meeting, led all scorers with 22 points for East Bay.

The Otters will take two weeks off to observe the Christmas and New Year's holidays before returning to the court in 2015 with games at Sonoma State and San Francisco State Jan. 2–3.