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.
 
East Bay is making its eighth straight trip to the CCAA postseason. The Pioneers reached the championship game three straight years from (2015-2017), capturing two tournament titles in 2016 and 2017.
 
Similar to last season, 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 13-15 with a 10-12 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 7:00 p.m.
 
In last year's first-round game, the result went down to the wire before Humboldt State prevailed 54-53 en route to their banner-winning tournament season. 
 
The Jacks and Pioneers met but once this season, as Humboldt State pulled away for a 21-point road win in January inside Pioneer Gymnasium.East Bay shot 52 percent as a team in the first two quarters and rode the hot hand of junior Regina Sankey, who scored 11 of her team-high 13 points before halftime. However, the Pioneers found themselves trailing by two points at the break.
 
Elayshia Woolridge got in the groove in the second half after attempted just one field goal in the opening 20 minutes. The senior tallied all 11 of her points after halftime, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Jacks from extending their lead to six after the third quarter.
 
Humboldt used just six players in the game and all five starters played at least 36 minutes, but they didn't have foul trouble as they were whistled for just six personal fouls the entire evening. They also never appeared to fatigue; in fact, quite the opposite. After shooting 41 percent in the first half, the Jacks hit 60 percent from the field in the second. They ended up out-scoring the Pioneers 22-7 in the fourth quarter to pull away for the victory.
 
Kayley Hsiung was perfect from three-point range for the night, going 4-for-4 and finishing with 12 points. The junior is now shooting 48 percent from long distance after her last five games.
 
Savannah McGill racked up 17 rebounds to lead all players, but had a tough night offensively with just two points. Woolridge and Kincso Kelemen led the team with four assists apiece.
 
PIONEER POINTS
Savannah McGill leads the Pioneers in minutes, rebounding and blocks on the season, and she's one of just six CCAA players currently averaging more than 10 rebounds per game. McGill is probable to earn an all-league spot after finishing second in the conference and tied for 9th in the nation with 11.8 rebounds per game along with 61 total assists. She has 11 double doubles on the season including eight double doubles in league play and has grabbed 13 or more rebounds in nine of the last 16 games.
 
Elayshia Woolridge came on strong over the last two months and will likely end up making an all-CCAA spot after leading East Bay with 12.3 points in CCAA action including double figures scoring in 17 of the last 21 games. She is first on the team with 2.4 assists through 29.5 minutes per outing.
 
Junior transfer Regina Sankey has played well of late for Cal State East Bay. Sankey has notched double figures in eight of the last 13 contests, including back to back games with 20 plus points. She is averaging 10.8 points and 5.0 rebounds on 42.4 percent shooting through 21.6 minutes per game off the bench in league play.
 
The Pioneers rank as the top defensive team in the CCAA. They're second in the league in scoring defense (60.9 ppg) and third in opponent field goal percentage (.364). They have also been effective defending the three-point arc, holding teams to 28.4 percent. East Bay has performed impressively on the glass, they are second among the 13 CCAA schools in rebounding defense (36.7) and third in rebounding offense (40.7). The Pioneers are second in the league in total rebounds with 1139.
 
For Humboldt, they finished the season with a 19-6 overall mark and a 17-5 record in league play. Likely All-CCAA player Alexia Thrower leads the Lumberjacks with 17.6 points and 10.5 points, both top 10 in the league. Probable fellow all-conference players Isamar Conde putting in 16.0 points on 58 made three-pointers and Tyla Turner finished the regular season as the leading the CCAA with 135 assists (5.4 apg) and second in steals with 62.

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	60.3 (11th)	60.2 (2nd)	-0.6 (6th)	+4.0 (4th)	-1.5 (9th)	.377 (8th)	.364 (3rd)	.275 (10th)	5.6 (4th)	.641 (12th)
HSU	70.2 (3rd)	62.9 (4th)	+7.3 (2nd)	-5.1 (12th)	+5.4 (1st)	.431 (3rd)	.397 (10th)	.313 (4th)	7.0 (3rd)	.785 (1st)