HAYWARD, Calif. -- After sweeping CCAA foes Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State L.A., at home last weekend, Cal State East Bay will celebrate "Senior Night" this Saturday while looking to capture the school's first-ever CCAA team title in their regular season finale against Cal State Monterey Bay.

The Pioneers are currently 17-2 in league play, tied atop the CCAA standings with Cal State Dominguez Hills for first place and half-game ahead of UC San Diego. A victory over the Otters would clinch at least a tie for first place and the first CCAA regular season title in Cal State East Bay history.

If all three squads finish at 18-2, Cal State Dominguez Hills would be the top seed in next week's CCAA tournament based on a 2-1 head-to-head record against CSUEB and UC San Diego. Cal State East Bay would be seeded third based on a head-to-head loss to UCSD. In the event of a two-team tie, the Pioneers have the head-to-head tie breaker over the Toros, but the Tritons have it over East Bay. 

The Pioneers defeated CSUDH on Friday in dramatic fashion, gaining possession in a tie game with 20 seconds left. Shannon Bland got the ball at the top of the key with the clock ticking down inside three seconds. She got around her defender into the lane and banked home a tough 17-footer from the right elbow as the buzzer went off, giving the Pioneers a 59-57 win and sending Pioneer Gym into a frenzy. Bland scored 11 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter to help the Pioneers erase a 13 point fourth quarter deficit.  Tori Breshers had a team-high 17 points.

The following night against Cal State L.A., Bland continued her late-game heroics by scoring eight of her 22 points in overtime.  Bland also had six rebounds, five assists, and three steals in the game. The Pioneers outscored the Golden Eagles 16-4 on their way to an 81-69 win. Effenberger was equally impressive scoring a game-high 25 points, dishing-out two assists, and stealing the ball twice.

Breshers recorded nine points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks. Madison Craig had eight points, four rebounds, four steals, and three assists.

The "Senior Night" opponent for the Pioneers will be Cal State Monterey Bay. The Pioneers will be looking to extend their already program record for wins of 23 when they face the Otters for the second time this season.

CSUEB defeated CSUMB by a score of 56-40 when the teams last met on Jan. 26 in Seaside. The Pioneers led 35-17 at the half and cruised in the second half to a 16 point victory. Remy Puou led all scorers with 14 points on 6-7 shooting. Craig contributed 13 points and two blocks. Effenberger had 10 points, six assists, and three steals. Breshers had nine points, a game-high 11 rebounds, and four blocks.

The Otters are currently in 11th place in the CCAA at 5-14 with a 9-17 overall mark. The game Saturday will be their season finale. The leading scorer for the Otters is McKenna Hill, who averages 11.8 points per game. Jazmine Johnson is the leading rebounder with 5.6 a game.

After the regular season finale against the Otters, the Pioneers will start the CCAA Championship Tournament on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Pioneer Gymnasium against a to-be-determined opponent.

2015-16 SENIORS
Saturday night will mark the final regular season home game for the six seniors on this year's squad. These are six of East Bay's top seven players in terms of mimutes played and points scored, and they have been at the core of a 2015-16 campaign that will likely go down as the greatest season in program history. 

The all-time leading scorer at Foothill High School in Pleasanton, Madison Craig returned to her East Bay roots this season for her senior year after spending two seasons at Division I Grand Canyon University. She has played every game for the Pioneers in 2015-16 and ranks sixth in the CCAA in minutes. A versatile guard on both ends of the floor, Craig is fourth on the team in scoring, fifth in rebounding, and third in assists and steals this season. She leads East Bay in three-point shooting at 38.8 percent and free throw shooting at 84.6 percent. 

Ashleigh Anderson has been on winning teams her entire career. She was a state champion and All-American nominee at Oregon High School, where she also happens to hold the school record in the javelin for track and field. She then spent two years at Clackamas Community College, averaging 12 points and six rebounds, capturing All-League honors, and winning the 2012-13 Southern Region championship along with teammate Laci Effenberger. After that, Anderson transferred to Vanguard University to be a multi-sport athlete. For track and field, she won a conference title in the discus and set a school record in the javelin, while capturing Golden State Conference Newcomer of the Year honors. For the basketball team, she averaged 7.4 points and 5.9 rebounds in helping Vanguard to a conference championship. Ashleigh came to East Bay last year and used a redshirt while rehabbing an injury. As a senior, she has been a vital part of the team's crunch time rotation. She has played in every game, leading the team in field goal percentage (.461) and ranking second in rebounding (5.5 rpg) and three-point shooting (.382). Anderson has totaled 149 points and 149 rebounds in 2015-16, including a carEer high 17 points on February 6 at Stanislaus. 

Another two-sport athlete, Bianca Littleton was a star in basketball and track at both Vista High School (Oceanside, Calif.) and Palomar College (San Marcos, Calif.). At Palomar, she won the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference championship in the 400 meters for track and field. In basketball, she helped the team win a conference title as a freshman, captured Defensive Player of the Year honors as a sophomore, and earned All-League honors both seasons. Since joining the Pioneers, Littleton has played in all 58 games in two seasons off the bench, averaged 13 minutes and shooting 39 percent from the field. She has contributed 146 total points and 164 rebounds, as well as tremendous energy and defensive intensity to the team that has gone 43-15 during her Pioneer career.

In less than two seasons, Laci Effenberger has been perhaps the most prolific outside shooter in program history. A native of Ketchikan, Alaska, she averaged 17 points and five assists per game in high school, earning All-State honors back-to-back years. She then spent two decorated seasons at Clackamas Community College, averaging 10 points and capturing the Southern Region championship as a freshman. In her second year, Laci was one of the top junior college players in the Northwest, ranking fourth in the conference in scoring (18.8 ppg), second in assists (6.2 apg, and first in three-point field goals (112). She made her East Bay debut midway through the 2014-15 season after coming back from an injury and made an immediate impact, helping the Pioneers reach the CCAA Championship game for the first time ever. As a senior, she has started every game, averaging 11.7 points, ranking third in the CCAA in assists (3.8 apg) and leading all CCAA players in minutes. She has matched the school record with seven made three-pointers in a game three times this season, and she shattered the program record for triples in a single season. Laci leads the CCAA and ranks tenth in the nation with 84 triple this season, and she's second in Pioneer history with 117 for her career. Perhaps most remarkably, Effenberger has made at least one three in all 27 games this season and 42 straight games dating back to last year. 

A three-sport athlete out of Ellensburg, Wash., Shannon Bland has transformed into one of the top players in the CCAA as a senior. She competed in volleyball, track and field, and basketball at Ellensburg High School, capturing a total of nine All-League honors and winning back-to-back basketball league championships her junior and senior years. Bland then spent two seasons at Central Washington University, utilizing a redshirt, before transferring to Columbia Basin College in southeastern Washington for the 2013-14 season. That year, she led Columbia Basin to a 27-4 record and a Northwest Athletic Conference championship, ranking in the top 10 in the conference in assists (4.6 apg) and steals (2.6 spg). After averaging 5.2 points per game as a junior in 2014-15, Shannon has been the Pioneers' second-leading scorer this year at 13.8 per game. She's also an outstanding rebounding guard, pulling in 4.9 boards per game. She has scored in double figures 19 times, ranks fourth in the CCAA in scoring during conference play at 15.3 ppg, and was twice named CCAA Player of the Week. Bland is also among the top 10 in the league in assists, steals, minutes, and free throw shooting. Shannon has started all 58 games in two years; she ranks fourth in program history in career free throw percentage (.794) and eighth in assists (188); and she turned in the signature moment of this historic 2015-16 season with a buzzer-beater to beat Cal State Dominguez Hills on Feb. 19.

The lone four-year senior on the 2015-16 squad, Tori Breshers has stamped her name all over the Pioneer record books and will graduate as the program's all-time leading scorer. She has been a member of coach Barcomb's rotation for four seasons and has competed in the CCAA playoffs all four years. Tori had a breakout season as a junior, averaging 14.1 points and 7.3 rebounds on 48 percent shooting and earning All-CCAA Second Team honors as the Pioneers made their run to the title game of the CCAA tournament. As a senior, she is East Bay leading scorer (14.1 ppg) and rebounder (6.6 rpg). A three-time CCAA Player of the Week honoree, Breshers has four double-doubles and ranks in the top 10 in the CCAA in points, rebounds, blocks, and field goal percentage. It took her less than three seasons to break the program record for blocks, and it took her just 94 games to become the fourth Pioneer ever to score 1,000 points. Last month, she broke the program's scoring record, and last week, she surpassed the record for made field goals -- both of which had stood for 28 years. Tori also enters her final regular season game ranked second in school history in made three throws, third in rebounds, sixth in scoring average, and eighth in steals.