ANCHORAGE, Ala. -- After a trip to the great Alaskan north yesterday to open the 2018-19 road schedule, the Cal State East Bay women's basketball team came up short in their first game of the Seawolf Hoops Classic on Friday evening, falling to No. 6 ranked Alaska Anchorage by a final of 66-50. 

East Bay (1-2) fell behind early as the potent Seawolf offense hung 24 points on the scoreboard in the first quarter. The Pioneers played Anchorage basically even the rest of the way, but weren't quite able to mount a big enough rally to erase their early deficit. 

Statistically the contest was remarkably close. The Pioneers out-shot the Seawolves 40 percent to 39 percent from the field, as well as 40 percent to 35 percent from long distance. They also out-rebounded the home team 32-29. The difference in the game was ball control -- Anchorage tallied 19 steals and racked up 31 points off 31 CSUEB turnovers.

Junior Morgan Greene led the Pioneers with 13 points of 5-for-9 shooting, nine of which came in the second half. The No. 2 rebounder in the nation last year also pulled in seven boards in a team-high 29 minutes.

Junior newcomer Regina Sankey turned in an impressive effort to reach double figures in scoring as well. She went 5-for-7 from the floor in just 10 minutes off the bench, notching 12 points. 

Junior Kayley Hsiung added six points for the Pioneers, going 2-for-2 from three-point range. Senior Savannah McGill made just one field goal, but led the squad with eight rebounds and four assists for the night.

CSUEB will look to re-group quickly as they return to the court at the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (PT) to close out the Seawolf Hoops Classic with a matchup against Alaska Fairbanks.