HAYWARD, Calif. -- It's Homecoming week at Cal State East Bay as the 2016-17 basketball season hits its home stretch. The defending California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) champion Pioneer women's team will look to continue its strong play at home this Friday and Saturday evenings against Sonoma State and SF State. 

Friday's contest will feature an ASI-sponsored tailgate with free food outside Pioneer Gym starting at 4:30 p.m. CSUEB will also be holding its annual Homecoming Garage Sale with vintage Pioneer items available for purchase throughout the evening.

The Pioneers have won nine of their last 11 games to move up to second place by themselves in the CCAA standings, two games behind UC San Diego (13-2) and one game ahead of Cal Poly Pomona (10-5), Stanislaus State (10-5), and Cal State San Bernardino (9-5). 

At 14-8 overall, East Bay has already clinched its fifth straight season with at least a .500 regular season record. 

WEEK IN REVIEW
Last weekend started with one of the low points of the season for the Pioneers, as they fell 59-47 to snap their five-game win streak. They shot just 30.8 percent from the field and went 2-for-13 from three-point range. Shomari Harris tallied 15 points and Morgan Greene matched a season high with 15 rebounds, but the Pioneers came up short in a low-scoring game that featured 49 turnovers between the two teams. 

East Bay was able to put that loss behind them quickly, however, as they traveled down to La Jolla and picked up their biggest win of the season to snap UCSD's 13-game winning streak. Just 24 hours later, the Pioneers shot 51 percent, went 10-for-22 from long range, and committed just 10 turnovers in a 14-point victory. Freshman Kayley Hsiung had a huge performance with a season-high 16 points on 4-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc. 

TWICE IS NICE
Harris filled up the box score with 16 points, six assists, five rebounds, and two steals on Saturday against the Tritons. On Tuesday, she was named CCAA Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the second time in January. The senior transfer from Las Vegas has been the best offensive player in the conference this season, leading the league in scoring (17.1 ppg) to go along with 5.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. She's shooting 36.3 percent on three-pointers and 80.4 percent from the free throw line.

TWIN TOWERS
Saturday was Greene's 10th game this season reaching double figures in rebounds. The redshirt freshman ranks second in the CCAA averaging 9.0 per contest. She has also been a significant contributor offensively, adding 7.8 points per game on a team-best 49.2 percent from the field.

Senior Remy Puou has also been one of the conference's top rebounders this season, turning in 9.0 points and 6.9 boards per night. She also leads the team with 20 blocks -- tied for fourth-most in the CCAA -- and now ranks third in program history with 74 blocks for her career.

SCOUTING SONOMA
The Seawolves enter this weekend on a three-game losing streak, barely hanging onto the final spot in the CCAA Tournament if the season ended today. They are the second-highest scoring team in the CCAA at 65.2 ppg (just ahead of CSUEB in third) and ranks third with a .410 field goal percentage (just behind CSUEB in second). SSU is also the top free throw shooting in the conference at 76.0 percent. They have three players averaging in double figures, led by Kylie Kiech (13.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and Madison Burroughs (11.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.0 apg, 48.9 FG%). The Pioneers pulled away for a 63-46 win over the Seawolves when the teams last met on Dec. 31 in Rohnert Park. 

SCOUTING SF STATE
The Gators have lost 15 games in a row and are winless in CCAA play this season. Since the start of 2014-15, SFSU has a record of 13-62 overall with an 8-48 mark in conference games. They rank last in the league in scoring and field goal percentage and are being pit-scored by an average of 9.9 points per game. Forward Donae Moguel has been the teams best player this season, averaging 10.7 ppg and 7.8 rpg while shooting 47 percent from the field. The Pioneers had to rally in the fourth quarter to escape with a 51-48 win over the Gators back on Dec. 30. Overall, East Bay has not lost to SF State since February 2011, winning 11 straight meetings over that span.