HAYWARD, Calif. -- Basketball season has finally arrived, as the Cal State East Bay women's hoops team opens the 2016-17 regular season this weekend up in the Pacific Northwest. The Pioneers will play two games at Western Oregon University as part of the WOU/Hampton Inn DII Shootout.

East Bay's season opener is slated for Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. against Saint Martin's. The following day, they take on the host Wolves with tip-off also set for 2 p.m.

PIONEER PREVIEW
For the first time since joining the California Collegiate Athletic Association in 2009, Cal State East Bay women's basketball enters the season as defending champions. The Pioneers completed an historic season in 2015-16, finishing 27-5 to set school records for victories and winning percentage. They captured a share of the CCAA regular season title, won the CCAA Tournament for the first time ever, and earned a berth in the NCAA West Regionals. That team out-scored its opponents by 12 points per game and finished second in the entire nation in scoring defense, allowing 53.8 points per contest.

A great deal has changed for the program in the eight months since that record-setting squad cut down the nets at Stockton Arena. The Pioneers have a new coaching staff following Suzy Barcomb's departure for the Division I ranks. First-year head coach Shanele Stires brings tremendous experience to East Bay and takes over the program after a successful four-year stint as associate head coach at the University of San Francisco. She helped the Division I Dons to two straight winning season and a West Coast Conference championship in 2015-16.

Fans can expect to see a different brand of basketball in 2016-17, as well as a substantially different roster. The Pioneers graduated six of their top seven scorers from last season, which included four All-CCAA honorees. Among that group were the program's all-time leading scorer and the single-season record holder for three-point field goals. This year's team, therefore, has a great deal to prove, as just five of the 15 players carry a 2015-16 championship ring with them on the plane to Oregon.

The lone returning starter for East Bay is senior center Remy Puou, who started all 32 contests last year. She averaged 6.4 points and 4.6 rebounds, while shooting 54.1 percent from the field to lead the team. Junior Marianne Fernandez also returns after appearing in 24 games as a sophomore. Senior Shontalene Trudeau and sophomores Bri Guillory and Elayshia Woolridge all had roles off the bench to help the Pioneers hang the program's first conference championship banner.

That quintet of returners is joined by an extremely intriguing cast of newcomers. CSUEB's incoming class includes three international students, two Division I transfers, and four players who will compete as true freshmen. Led by Shomari Harris, who joins the Pioneers for her senior year after averaging 10.1 points, 4,1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists last season at Texas A&M-Commerce, the track record would suggest a great deal of talent in this group. But just how talented they are, and just how deep they'll be, are questions that will be answered over the next several weeks as this team gets a chance to play together for the first time. 

The Pioneers were picked to finish fifth out of 13 teams in the CCAA this season according to the preseason coaches poll, which was released Wednesday. 

SCOUTING SAINT MARTIN'S
The Saints lost two All-GNAC players, but return three starters from a team that finished 7-20 in 2015-16. Their top returning scorer is junior forward Elin Johannson (7.8 ppg), who was named preseason All-GNAC. The last meeting between CSUEB and SMU was two years ago at this same tournament, with the Saints earning a 71-57 win.

ABOUT WESTERN OREGON
The Wolves struggled to a 4-24 record last year in their third season under former CSUEB assistant coach Holli Howard-Carpenter, and they have been picked to finish 11th in the GNAC this year. WOU returns two starters from 2015-16, including leading scorer Sydney Azorr (8.11 ppg). Cal State East Bay has taken on the Wolves in non-conference action each of the last two seasons and won both times, 66-61 in Monmouth in 2014 and 57-42 last November in Pioneer Gym.