HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team returns this week to a setting in which it has been extremely successful in recent seasons, as the 2017-18 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) tournament begins Tuesday evening. 

CSUEB is making its seven straight trip to the CCAA postseason. The Pioneers have reached the championship game three straight years, capturing the past two tournament titles. 

But unlike the past two seasons, East Bay will not be considered one of the favorites when the eight-team tournament begins Tuesday. Following a regular season in which they finished 16-12 with a 12-10 mark in conference play, the Pioneers earned the No. 6 seed and will play on the road at No. 3 seed Humboldt State in the first round, with tip-off from Lumberjack Arena set for 7:30 p.m.

The Pioneers finished two games behind the Jacks in the standings, due in part to an overtime victory by HSU on a buzzer-beating three-pointer when the teams met for the only time this year on Feb. 1.

East Bay shot 49 percent in that game, led by 22 points and 13 rebounds from Morgan Greene, and 17 points from Elayshia Woolridge. They went on a huge run in the second quarter and led by 12 at halftime, but the Jacks slowly chipped away over the final 20 minutes to force overtime. CSUEB committed 19 turnovers and struggled from three-point range overall, but nearly pulled out the road victory nonetheless.

For Humboldt, likely All-CCAA player Tyla Turner scored a game-high 23 points against the Pioneers and finished the regular season as the third-leading scorer in the CCAA (17.9 ppg). She also averages 6.4 rebounds and is among the league's best free throw shooters.

For the Pioneers, Greene has turned in perhaps the best season by a sophomore in program history. The two-time CCAA Player of the Week closed the regular season No. 2 in the nation in rebounding (12.6 rpg) and double-doubles (20), led the CCAA in field goal percentage (.562), and finished as the conference's fifth-leading scorer (16.0 ppg). 

If the Pioneers are going to have a chance to claim their third straight championship, head coach Shanele Stires will need strong performances from Greene as well as Woolridge, who emerged this year as one of the top guards in the league. She's 11th in the CCAA in scoring (13.2 ppg) and fifth in assists (3.6 apg), with solid shooting percentage of .431 from the field and .409 from three-point range.

CSUEB is at its best when Greene and Woolridge are complemented by good outside shooting. Janae Chamois has been the primary source of that in her senior year, hitting 53 three-pointers for the season, the fifth-highest total in the conference. Sophomore Kincso Kelemen finished the season at a solid 42.9 percent from deep after a clutch performance going 5-for-7 from long distance in the regular season finale at Stanislaus State. 

Junior Savannah McGill, who claimed the season's first conference Player of the Week award on the strength of a 25-rebound performance against Academy of Art, finished the season with a 13-rebound effort at Stanislaus to average an even 6.0 boards for the year. 

The winner of Tuesday's first round game will advance to the semifinal round to take either No. 2 seed Cal Poly Pomona or No. 7 Cal State Dominguez Hills. CPP is hosting the semifinal and final rounds Friday and Saturday at Kellogg Gymnasium. CSUEB has qualified for the NCAA West Regionals each of the past two seasons following a 28-year drought. Currently ranked outside the top 10 in the West, the Pioneers will have to once against claim the CCAA 's automatic bid by winning the tournament in order to keep that streak alive.

TALE OF THE TAPE
(CCAA rank in parentheses)

Team	PPG	Opp PPG	Scoring Margin	Rebound Margin	Turnover Margin	FG%	Opp FG%	3-pt FG%	3-pt FG/Game	FT%
CSUEB	64.8 (6th)	62.6 (5th)	+2.1 (5th)	+2.3 (5th)	-1.1 (10th)	.406 (5th)	.386 (6th)	.319 (6th)	5.9 (6th)	.650 (13th)
HSU	65.7 (5th)	61.7 (3rd)	+4.0 (3rd)	-2.5 (8th	+6.1 (1st)	.386 (8th)	.419 (10th)	.334 (5th)	7.3 (1st)	.772 (3rd)