ARCATA, Calif., -- The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team finished the Humboldt Thanksgiving Classic with a crushing 74-48 victory over Notre Dame De Namur on Saturday in Lumberjack Arena.
 
With the win, the Pioneers move to 6-2 on the season and implemented some revenge on an Argonaut squad that beat them at buzzer earlier this month at the Warrior Classic in Turlock.
 
"It feels tremendous coming on the road over a long holiday and seeing our team take on challenges and come away with some extremely important wins," expressed East Bay Head Coach Shanele Stires. "Most importantly, for our younger players to get a chance to compete against high level competition and get quality minutes early in the season. We will need contributions from everyone down the stretch."
 
The Pioneers got off to a hot start as they barely trailed on the contest. East Bay continued to ride the strength of their defense backed by hot shooting from the field. CSUEB finished the ball game shooting 53 percent from the field, including going 50 percent from three-point range.
 
The East Bay defense held Notre Dame to just 32 percent shooting accuracy from the floor and 40 percent from from long distance. The Pioneers captured 12 steals and forced 17 total turnovers from the Argonauts. CSUEB would go on to score 16 points off of the those NDNU errors.
 
Regina Sankey led all scorers with 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting for the contest. Sankey went 2-for-3 from three-point land and a perfect 2-for-2 from the foul line to go along with two rebounds, an assist and a steal. Madison Schiller turned in a solid performance across the board with 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals, both team highs. Faith Turner played well for the Pioneers off the bench notching 12 points and nine rebounds on 5-for-7 shooting. Turner also garnered two steals in 24 minutes on action.
 
"It was especially rewarding to see Faith Turner have a good night," Stires explained. "She needed it and our team recognizes what an important player she is to our long term success."
 
Cal State East Bay scored efficiently in all phases on the game. The Pioneers racked up a season best 23 fast break points to go along with 27 points from their reserves. East Bay dominated Notre Dame inside the paint, outscoring the Argonauts 38-22 inside the key. The Pioneers were also dominate on the glass, out rebounding NDNU 43-22 for the contest.
 
Morgan Greene paced the Pioneers with a game high 12 rebounds to go along with seven points. Celeste Almendarez corralled seven rebounds of her own to match her seven points and two steals. Kayley Hsuing finished with nine points on a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc with three rebounds and three assists.
 
"The challenge now is to continue to build and challenge our team," said Stires. "Efficient practices will be critical to continuing to improve. Handling success and staying hungry. We have a spirited and competitive group who are taking ownership of the trajectory of our program."
 
The Pioneers will return to conference action with games against Cal State Dominguez Hills and San Francisco State on the schedule next week.