ARCATA, Calif., -- The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team improved to 5-2 overall on the season after they opened the Humboldt Thanksgiving Classic with a, 93-66 victory over the Dominican Penguins Friday night.
 
After entering the intermission tied at 41-41, the Pioneers outscored the Penguins 52-25 in the second half, including allowing a season-low five points from Dominican in the fourth quarter.
 
East Bay's defensive presence has been a force all season long and was a key component to their win over Dominican. The Pioneers held the Penguins to 39 percent shooting from the field, including 25 percent from three-point range. The CSUEB defensive pressure also forced Dominican into 27 turnovers that the Pioneers converted into 31 points.
 
"We really emphasize defensive intensity and defensive energy," said East Bay Head Coach Shanele Stires. "We know that we are at our best when we are anchored in an aggressive defense first mindset. We talk about it. We emphasize it and we demand it."
 
Regina Sankey led all CSUEB scorers with 21 points to go along with eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. Sankey went a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line in 26 minutes of action. Kayley Hsiung added 11 points on 3-for-6 shooting from three-point range, while Morgan Greene added six points with a team-best 11 rebounds.
 
As a whole, East Bay shot 50.7 percent from the field, including 45.8 percent from three-point land. The Pioneers won the point in the paint battle 42-26 while also narrowly outrebounding the Penguins 33-31 for the ball game. The Pioneers also notched 20 fast break points and 12 second-chance points.
 
The East Bay depth from their reserves has been a serious factor for the Pioneers all season long. The CSUEB bench contributed a season-best 44 points in the victory Friday night, behind a career-best 19 points from sophomore guard Delia Moore. Moore went 8-for-10 from the floor while knocking down 3-for-5 shots beyond the three-point arc to go along with three assists, three steals and two rebounds. Zhane Duckett finished with 14 points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting from the field, including an impressive 2-for-2 from the three-point line and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Duckett dished out a team-high five assists and grabbed three rebounds in 24 minutes.
 
"What seems to work well for our team is a focus on defensive energy, sharing the basketball, with ball movement and player movement with pace and tempo," explained Stires. "Over the summer our team made a serious commitment to our jump shooting. Realizing that we are a little undersized. We make sure that beside our execution on offense and defense that we are getting up quality shots. Our players have such high commitment that they even like to shoot extra shots at night and whenever their schedules allow. That extra work has really been a major asset for us to start the season."
 
The Pioneers will wrap up the Humboldt Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday with a rematch against a Notre Dame De Namur squad that defeated them, 60-59 on a buzzer beater three-pointer in the Warrior Classic earlier this season. The game will begin at 3:00 p.m. in Lumberjack Arena.