MONMOUTH, Ore. -- The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team opened the 2016-17 regular season with a 68-63 victory over Saint Martin's on Saturday afternoon in the first game of the Western Oregon University/Hampton Inn D2 Shootout.

First-year coach Shanele Stires picks up a win in her head coaching debut, as the Pioneers followed up the winningest season in program history with a 1-0 start to their conference title defense.

East Bay earned a hard-fought victory over the Saints with contributions from up and down the roster. It was tight throughout, as neither squad led by more than six the entire way. Both teams executed efficiently on offense, but the Pioneers finished with an advantage in field goal shooting, 48.0 to 43.9 percent.

"It was a great way for our team to start off the season," said Stires. "Early foul trouble made us go to the bench quicker than we wanted, but everyone stepped up and held down the fort when their name was called. Bri was tremendous for us today on both sides of the ball."

Redshirt sophomore Bri Guillory had an outstanding performance, racking up a career-high 24 points on 10-for-18 from the floor. She poured in 19 of those points in the second half as East Bay outlasted SMU down the stretch, finishing 3-for-7 from three-point range in a team-high 35 minutes. 

Senior transfer Shomari Harris was tremendous in her Pioneer debut, posting 20 points, five rebounds, and a team-best five assists. The guard from Las Vegas finished 7-for-12 shooting, including 3-for-4 from long distance. As a team, the Pioneers finished 6-for-13 from beyond the arc (46.2 percent), with Guillory and Harris doing all the damage.

East Bay trailed by one at halftime, but they took over the lead in the third quarter and held a four-point advantage heading into the final period. The Pioneers never relinquished the lead over the final 10 minutes, preventing the Saints from making a scoring run and taking care of business at the free throw line to secure the win. 

Redshirt freshman Morgan Greene paced the squad with 10 rebounds in 33 minutes in her debut, including three boards on the offensive end. Four-year senior Remy Puou kicked off her final season with seven points, seven rebounds, and two blocks despite spending much of the first half on the bench in foul trouble.

Fellow senior Shontalene Trudeau added six points on 2-for-4 shooting. Junior Janae Chambois notched five points in just nine minutes off the bench, going 3-for-4 from the foul line. 

"We executed very well down the stretch," Stires noted. "We have room to improve, but I couldn't be more excited about how we competed." 

The Pioneers are back in action again on Sunday afternoon for the second day of the D2 Shootout. They'll take on the host Western Oregon at 2 p.m. in a non-conference game.