HAYWARD, Calif. -- For the first time since joining the conference, the Cal State East Bay women's basketball team will host a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) postseason tournament game. The Pioneers host Humboldt State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a first-round matchup.

After capturing a share of the regular season championship -- the University's first ever CCAA title -- East Bay heads into the tournament as the No. 3 seed due to tie-breakers. They will take on the sixth-seeded Jacks, who lost the tie-breaker with Cal State San Bernardino for the No. 5 seed. 

Each game in the first round of the tournament will be hosted by the higher seeded school. After Tuesday, the four remaining teams earn a trip to Stockton, Calif. for the semifinal and final rounds this Friday and Saturday evenings. CSUEB will then hope to earn a bid to the NCAA Division II Regionals for the first time the following week.

The Pioneers are riding an 11-game winning streak into the playoffs -- the team's second 11-game streak of the season. They finished the regular season at 24-4, posting the most victories and the best winning percentage in the history of the program. 

"I set some fairly lofty goals for the team this season, and we have continued to reach those goals one by one," said head coach Suzy Barcomb. "Hosting a first round game is yet another program first, and we want to share it with all of the family, friends, and alumni of this program."

The squad has excelled on both sides of the ball in 2015-16 to reach this point. They closed out the regular season ranked No. 3 in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 52.4 points per game. And despite playing much of the time with an undersized lineup, the Pioneers are among the top 30 schools in the nation in rebound margin. 

Offensively, the Pioneers have two of the top six scorers in the CCAA in seniors Tori Breshers (14.3 ppg) and Shannon Bland (13.7 ppg). Breshers, a four-year player who will make her fourth straight appearance in the CCAA tournament, has closed out her career impressively. She owns three Pioneer career records, becoming the program's all-time leading scorer last month. 

East Bay's third-leading scorer is also the most prolific outside shooter in the conference. Laci Effenberger ranks ninth in the nation with 88 three-pointers this season, making them at nearly a 36 percent clip. She shattered CSUEB's single-season record, and she also matched the single-game record with seven triples three different times in 2015-16. Effenberger's story is one of perseverance; she fought back from seven surgeries and this year leads the CCAA in minutes and ranks third in assists.

"Our Senior class has driven us towards our goals all season long, and tonight will be no different," Barcomb said. "I've relied heavily on this group, and they have met each and every challenge I've put before them all season long."

SIZING UP THE JACKS
Humboldt State finished the season at .500, winning five of their final eight conference games to secure a playoff spot. The Jacks are 6-8 on the road this season and have allow the second-most points of any school in the league.

HSU shoots well from the free throw line (.739) and beyond the three point arc (.338). They're led by forwards Amanda Kurst (12.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg) and A'Jaee Fister (9.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg), as well as guard Kiana Brown (11.9 ppg), who is one of the top outside shooters in the league at 43.1 percent. 

The Pioneers defeated Humboldt 61-50 when the teams met earlier this season in Arcata. Bland led East Bay with 18 points in that game, and they held HSU to 31.3 percent shooting from the field. Humboldt State has won seven of the 13 matchups against CSUEB since the Pioneers joined the CCAA in 2009-10. 

OUT FOR REDEMPTION
The Pioneers have already made history this season, but they have their sights set on greater feats still. In 2014-15, East Bay defeated HSU in the CCAA semifinals en route to the program's first-ever trip to the conference championship game. The team that defeated them for last year's tournament title is the same team that enters this year's playoffs with the top seed, Cal State Dominguez Hills.

"This has been a very special season for our program," Barcomb noted. "But we have not yet reached all the goals that we set out to accomplish." 

Nearly East Bay's entire roster was part of that postseason run last year, and they remember how close they came to a championship. With six seniors and a junior comprising the team's primary seven-player rotation, the Pioneers have the most experienced squad in the league.

Their games against UC San Diego and CSUDH -- the two teams with whom East Bay tied for the regular season title -- were both two-point games that came down to the final possession. If those contests are any indication, we have some fireworks in store for us at the 2015-16 CCAA tournament.