ONTARIO, Calif. – Cal State East Bay will open the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Post-Season Tournament against Cal State Dominguez Hills at 8:05 p.m. on Thursday, March 6, at Citizens Business Bank Arena in the city of Ontario. The winner will take on Chico State on Friday, March 7, for a trip to the conference tournament finals.

Website: CCAA Tournament Information

"We snuck into the tournament through the back door after our six game slide. We were able to beat some quality teams at home, and then earned a couple of road wins to get the job done," said East Bay Head Coach Suzy Barcomb.

Cal State East Bay (16-13, 13-9 CCAA) finished in a four-way tie for third place in the final regular season standings. The Pioneers' two head-to-head wins against the other three squads with identical CCAA records were the fewest and therefore resulted in the No. 6 seed.

The roller coaster regular season concluded this past weekend with the Pioneers winning their fourth straight game, the longest active win streak among CCAA Tournament teams. Prior to the final two weekends the Pioneers were on the outside looking in for their invite to post-season play

"Playing Chico State and Stanislaus at home in pressure packed games helped set the tone for the final weekend on the road," said Barcomb. "We were playing essentially must-win games the final two weeks…We have gained a lot of confidence and started to get healthy again."

East Bay returns to the CCAA Tournament for the third straight season and is looking for its first ever victory at the post-season league event. The past two years the Pioneers were forced to play true road games in the previous eight-team playoff format. CSUEB fell to Cal State Monterey Bay 46-43 two seasons ago, and to Cal State L.A. last year.

"Experience is going to play a big factor; from the past years and earlier this season," said Barcomb in regards to the biggest difference between this year's squad to previous ones. "The (CAA Classic) early in our season was good for us to play. It was a big venue, we played a late game, and it was against quality opponents."

Cal State Dominguez Hills (17-9, 13-9 CCAA) earned the highest seed out of the team's tied for third place. The Toros earned four head-to-head wins against the teams with identical records to earn the No. 3 seed for the CCAA Tournament.

Dominguez Hills and East Bay split the season series with each winning at home versus the other. The Toros earned a 57-49 victory scoring 44 second half points after trailing by 12 at halftime.

"We struggled with East Bay's match-up zone defense and only scored 13 first half points," said Dominguez Hills Head Coach Molly Goodenbour. "We put some pressure on them and forced turnovers in the second half, to go along with some fortuitous officiating. We feel fortunate to have escaped with a win on our home floor."

Dominguez Hills had lost four straight before finishing the regular season with a 71-61 road win over UC San Diego. The victory moved them up to the No. 3 seed, while a loss would have eliminated the Toros from post-season play as Humboldt State (15-11, 12-10 CCAA) would have owned the tiebreaker advantage.

No. 4 UC San Diego will take on No. 5 Cal State L.A. in the first of two opening round games at 5:35 p.m. The Tritons swept the season series and most recently earned a 68-61 road win over the Golden Eagles on Friday, Feb. 28. The winner will take on regular season champion and No. 1 seed Cal Poly Pomona on Friday, March 7, at 5:35 p.m.

East Bay Women's Basketball Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSUEBhoops
East Bay Athletics Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSUEBathletics
East Bay Athletics Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CSUEBathletics
East Bay Athletics Instagram: http://instagram.com/csuebathletics