HAYWARD, Calif. — The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team continued its historic season on Saturday, earning a hard-fought victory over No. 5-seed Azusa Pacific, 82-74, in an NCAA West Region Semifinal contest Saturday night at Pioneer Gym.

CSUEB (24-2) will now face No. 3-seed Western Washington in the NCAA West Region Final on Monday, March 14, inside Pioneer Gym beginning at 7 p.m.

East Bay had already achieved a program milestone by winning its first-ever NCAA Division-II Tournament contest on Friday to advance to Saturday's semifinals, and writes another chapter in the Pioneer history books by advancing to its first-ever NCAA Regional Final.

Azusa Pacific (25-4) had won each of the last two NCAA West Regionals with Elite Eight Appearances in both 2019 and 2021.

Senior guard Madison Schiller scored a game-high 19 points on a sizzling 8-of-11 shooting from the field, Zhane Duckett had an excellent all-around game with 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Mina Tameliau scored 12 points with four rebounds and four assists, while Grace Campbell added 10 points.

Delia Moore was spectacular on both ends of of the floor, finishing with nine points and six assists, while senior Faith Turner scored six points and had a big impact on the game throughout.

East Bay trailed 35-34 at intermission after a back-and-forth first half. The Pioneers trailed by as many as six in the third quarter before closing the quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 57-53 lead into the fourth.

Duckett's driving layup followed by Moore's 3-pointer extended CSUEB's lead to 10, 67-57, with 6:50 left to play. APU responded to tie the game 69-69 with 4:23 left, but clutch buckets late in the game by Schiller helped seal the win.

Cal State East Bay is now just one win away from the Elite Eight!