HAYWARD, Calif. — The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team's road contest against Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday, Jan. 1, has been canceled due to COVID protocols. The matchup will result in a no contest and will not count toward the conference standings.

CSUDH Athletics already announced that no spectators will be admitted for Saturday's contest in Carson, Calif, due to a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County. You can read the full release here.

The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Executive Council Steering Committee, based on a recommendation from the conference directors of athletics, recently approved a revision to its policies for basketball games affected by COVID-19. For the 2021-22 season, games that are unable to be played due to COVID-related circumstances will now be declared a 'no contest' rather than a 'forfeit.'

This policy will also apply to any conference basketball games that were previously ruled a forfeit prior to the change of policy. You can view the full CCAA release here.

These changes are being made with the consideration of the recent surge of the Omicron variant, which is impacting fully-vaccinated individuals, and aligning with NCAA standards that if a team does not appear or a game is not started due to circumstances such as weather conditions, accidents, breakdown of vehicles, illness, or catastrophic causes, a no contest is declared.

Qualification for the CCAA Basketball Tournament powered by Under Armour, will now be determined by winning percentage. The top six teams in the men's and women's standings by winning percentage will play March 3-5 in Arcata to determine who will earn the CCAA's automatic bids. 

This decision reverses an Aug. 25 decision which ruled that a canceled CCAA competition would be declared a 'forfeit' by the team that caused the cancellation due to COVID-19 protocols. 

"The CCAA has been a leader when it comes to considering the health and safety of our student-athletes, and all 12 institutions will continue to work towards that goal," said CCAA Commissioner Mitch Cox. "We have now seen this new variant impact vaccinated people and the feeling is there should not be a negative outcome for those programs who have to responsibly deal with an outbreak of cases."

East Bay is coming off a 57-37 victory over Cal State San Bernardino, which was its ninth-straight victory. It was also the second-fewest number of points given up by the Pioneers this season. 

Junior guard Delia Moore led the way with 13 points, four rebounds and a career-high six steals. Senior guard Madison Schiller scored 10 points with four steals, while senior Sylvia Vartazarian added 10 points with four rebounds.

Junior Grace Campbell scored five points with 13 rebounds, and Taylor Linzie finished with four points and 14 rebounds.

Moore scored a team-high 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field in the 69-55 home victory over Cal Poly Pomona on Dec. 16, while Madison Schiller, sophomore Mina Tameliau and freshman Abigail Cooper scored 10 points apiece.

East Bay has the top scoring defense in the conference this season, limiting opponents to only 54.6 points per game. Moore ranks 11th in the CCAA in scoring, averaging 13.3 points per contest, and is fourth in 3-point field-goal percentage (.352) and seventh in 3-pointers per game (2.3).

Schiller is 11th in scoring with 12.9 points per game, Linzie is eighth in rebounding with 7.5 per game and sophomore guard Zhane Duckett ranks sixth in the conference with 3.1 assists per game.