HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team heads south this weekend for its final road game of the regular season on Saturday evening at Cal State San Marcos. The Pioneers and Cougars are set for 5:30 p.m. tip-off from the newly-renovated Sports Center on CSUSM's campus.

The Pioneers are hoping this will be the first of two trips to San Marcos in the span of just a few weeks. Currently sitting in second place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings with a 13-4 record, the defending champion Pioneers have already clinched their sixth consecutive berth in the CCAA Tournament. If they can defeat their first round opponent, they head back to San Marcos as the Cougars play host to the semifinal and championships rounds.

RISING IN THE EAST
Last week was Homecoming at Cal State East Bay, and the Pioneers helped close out a week of "Rising in the East" with a pair of crucial conference victories. On Friday, they outlasted Sonoma State 60-54 thanks to a big third quarter. They out-rebounded SSU 38-25 in the win, led by Morgan Greene with 14 points and 12 boards on 6-for-9 shooting.

The following night, they kept SF State winless in CCAA play with a 10-point victory despite shooting just 1-for-16 from three-point range. Once again they finished with a huge rebounding advantage, as Greene racked up 15 boards and Remy Puou posted a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds.

East Bay has now won three straight, eight of its last nine, and 11 of its last 13 games. The program is now going on three years of dominance in the CCAA, having won 38 of its last 46 conference games. Depending on the other league games this weekend, the Pioneers have a chance to clinch a home game in the first round of the CCAA Tournament for the second straight year.

CSUEB has picked up its defense in recent weeks and now ranks third in the conference allowing just 60.1 points per game. Offensively, they're second among CCAA teams with a .414 team field goal percentage. 

The first NCAA Division II regional rankings were released on Wednesday, and the Pioneers were slotted at No. 9 in the West. The top eight teams in the region at the end of the season with earn berths to the West Regional tournament, with the CCAA, PacWest, and GNAC champions receiving automatic bids. Click here to view the full Regional Rankings.

MOST VALUABLE MARI
Cal State East Bay has never had a female student-athlete win the CCAA Most Valuable Player award in any sport since joining the conference in 2009. Shomari Harris is in position to put that streak to the test. The senior transfer from Texas A&M Commerce has taken the relatively young Pioneer squad under her wing, and week after week, has showed herself to be the most dynamic offensive player in the league. With three regular season games remaining, she leads the CCAA in scoring (16.,9 ppg) and ranks second in assists (4.3 apg), while averaging 5.0 rebounds per night. She's also among the conference leaders in minutes, free throw shooting, and qualified field goal percentage. Harris heads to San Marcos with a streak of nine straight games scoring in double figures.

TWIN TOWERS
Rebounding has been an area of strength for CSUEB the entire season. Redshirt freshman Morgan Greene has been extremely impressive in her first season, displaying tremendous aggressiveness on the glass on both ends of the floor. She ranks second in the CCAA averaging 9.4 rebounds per game, and Saturday was her third time this season pulling in 15 boards. Pioneer Hall of Famer Antoinette Goode's single-season school record in basically untouchable, but Greene has a chance to break Marlene MacMillan's record for rebounding in the CCAA era. She grabbed 269 board in 2011-12 for an average of 9.3 per game. Greene sits at 226 with three regular season games and at least one playoff game left.

Not to be outdone, Puou has been one of the conference's top rebounders at 7.2 per night. She's also averaging 9.3 points per game and shooting 47.9 percent from the floor, on pace to finish with career highs in scoring and rebounds. With 21 blocks this season, she ranks among the top 10 in the conference. The four-year senior is working her way up a couple of the of the school's all-time lists. She currently ranks third in program history with 72 career blocks, seventh with 500 career rebounds, and ninth with a .466 field goal percentage.

SCOUTING SAN MARCOS
The Pioneers are 3-0 against CSUSM in program history, including a 59-44 win for East Bay at home on Jan. 5. They dominated that contest defensively even though Harris didn't play, out-rebounding the Cougars 52-35.

Most recently, San Marcos has won four of its last five. They are a solid defensive team, particularly at defending the three-pointer. However, the Cougars rank 12th in the CCAA with a .354 field goal percentage. They have three players averaging in double figures, led by Savannah Camp (13.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg).