STOCKTON, Calif. – Cal State East Bay women's basketball will be playing for the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament title on Saturday inside Stockton Arena. In mid-January the team was 4-6 in league play and just trying to get back into the playoff picture.

"It's really incredible. To be honest, I would have never believed we would be (in this spot)," said sophomore Remy Puou invoking laughs from junior Laci Effenberger and Head Coach Suzy Barcomb at Friday night's postgame press conference. "We spent the season coming together as a team. We have built this chemistry and know each other so well. That's what really brought us here."

Cal State East Bay closed out the season 9-3 in league play and added two more wins following triumphs over Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday and Humboldt State on Friday. Following that win Cal State East Bay has defeated 10 of the other 11 teams in the CCAA.

The only team left to make it a perfect 11-of-11 is Saturday's opponent Cal State Dominguez Hills. The Toros handed the Pioneers a pair of double-digit defeats during the regular season and ousted them from last year's tournament.

Cal State East Bay has truly earned this opportunity taking down the No. 3 seed in the opener and No. 2 seed the following night. The Pioneers will have to take down the top three seeds on three straight nights to win the tournament.

"We deserve to be here. We have been through battle after battle," said Effenberger. "With the utmost respect for Humboldt State…to lose by two there and then again by two at home on our "Senior Night," to come back and win here…it was such a good feeling."

Effenberger has overcome seven knee surgeries over the past few years and rebounded from a recent procedure to become a major contributor off the Pioneer bench. In the postseason she has scored 27 points, with 25 coming in the second half.

Senior Micah Walker has been with the program each of her four collegiate seasons. After the team suffered defeats in each of its first three CCAA Tournament openers, Coach Barcomb was able to fulfill a promise she made when she recruited her out of Reed High School in Reno, Nev.

"I guarantee you by the fourth year we will be playing for the CCAA Championship," Barcomb told Walker. "I got a text from her dad on Friday morning reminding me of that promise. Micah said 'remember what you told me on my recruiting trip,'" after the win over the Jacks. "It's been a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that we've put into this and for us it has been a really long road."

Senior guard Stephanie Lopez has had a historic individual season after becoming the first Pioneer to score 500 points in a single season. After earning All-CCAA Second Team honors as a junior, she has come into her own and was arguably one of the finalists for the 2014-15 CCAA Player of the Year award.

"We were able to play as a team in the second half," said Lopez in her postgame press conference following Thursday's historic victory over Cal Poly Pomona. "We were nervous going into the game and got off to a slow start. Once we got over the nervousness right before halftime and calmed down we all had to pick it up and play together…and we did that."

Junior Tori Breshers received All-CCAA Second Team honors at Wednesday night's banquet and has been the team's defensive leader throughout the year. On Thursday she held her own against the CCAA Player of the Year in Jada Blackwell tying the school record with six blocks in a single game and 115 career blocks.

Breshers finished with team-highs of 16 points and 10 rebounds in Friday's victory over Humboldt State. Her production and playing time has steadily grown leading up to this all-conference worthy junior season.

Newcomer Shannon Bland has quietly taken over the point guard position and lightened the load for Lopez to go on the offensive attack. She has knocked down a crucial 3-point basket in both of the team's postseason wins and has been a model of consistency starting all 30 games this year.

Cal State East Bay hopes to write a storybook ending to its CCAA Tournament run. However a win would guarantee an extension to the schedule and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.