After coming off of the best season in East Bay history, the loss of five key seniors and their head coach, the California State East Bay women’s basketball team is still adjusting to an entirely different lineup and coaching staff.

Over the holiday weekend, the women played Dominican University and the Academy of Art in the Thanksgiving Shootout, an invitational tournament hosted by East Bay on the Hayward campus.

On Saturday the Pioneers faced Dominican University (3-3) and trailed in the beginning of the game due to early foul trouble by several key players. By the second quarter the Pioneers caught a rhythm, scored 27 points and went on a 17-4 run. This put them up 40 to 30 at the end of the first half and in good shape going into the second half.

“We had to wake up in the second quarter and started defending better, which led us to executing on the offensive end,” senior transfer guard Shomari Harris said.

In the second half, the Pioneers managed to maintain control through stellar rebounding and shooting, which helped them outscore Dominican in both the third and fourth quarters, which gave them the 78-62 win.

Freshman guard Elayshia Woolridge tallied a season high 11 points on 5 for 7 shooting and also had 4 steals. Freshman guard Kincso Keleman also put up 12 points and 5 rebounds in 25 minutes on the floor.

“I have adjusted to being who I am on the court,” said Woolridge. “I share the ball with my teammates and bring defensive energy to get stops and score.”

Harris led the team in points with 17 and added 5 assists.

Sunday night’s game was different for the Pioneers as they fell to the Academy of Art in a tough three point loss. It was another big game for Harris, who earned a double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 5 steals.

Freshman forward Morgan Greene also had a strong night in the losing effort, as she secured a career high 10 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks.

The Pioneers led the entire game until the the fourth quarter, when the Academy of Art outscored them with a 14-5 run and secured the win. It came down to the little things for the team, they turned the ball over too many times and it led to the 57-54 lead for AAU late and they never looked back.

“We lost control of the game tonight and we did not execute very well on the offensive end,” said Harris. “I am confident for the season. I feel like our pre-season games have prepared us for our conference. We have put in a lot of work.”

East Bay is now 3-3 in non-conference play and will travel with the men to CSU Monterey Bay on Friday and San Francisco State on Saturday. Both road games begin at 5:30 p.m.