Box Score: Broncos 76, CSU Dominguez Hills 68

CARSON – Cal Poly Pomona overcame its largest halftime deficit of the season and rallied behind junior Reyana Colson and senior Stephisha Walton as the Broncos defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills 76-68 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play Saturday. 

The Broncos, who assured themselves a home date for the first round of the CCAA Tournament that begins March 2, won for the 15th time in their last 18 games and the seventh in the last eight. The Broncos are 19-5 overall and 16-4 in the CCAA, just one game behind No. 11 UC San Diego, which lost at CSU Monterey Bay, for the top spot in the conference. 

The Toros are now 10-15, 9-11. 

“It's a credit to our team that we didn't hang our heads after trailing at halftime and by 16 early in the second half,'' Broncos coach Scott Davis said. “They couldn't miss a shot and I didn't know if they could continue that stretch of good shooting for a full 40. We wanted to chip away at the lead and keep hanging in there for 5-minute stretches at a time. 

“It really took a lot of effort for our women to win here tonight. Good teams fight back and we've got a nice team and a big week ahead of us.'' 

Trailing 48-32 just 15 seconds into the second half, CPP answered with a 10-0 run capped by a pair of free throws from Walton and CPP trailed 48-42 with 15:27 left. 

CSUDH answered with a 5-0 mini run to lead by 11 (53-42) with 13:43 left. 

But the Broncos weren't about to be denied as they improved upon their earlier run, this time an 11-0 run over a three-minute span when guard Rosslyn Beard connected on a 3-pointer with 10:38 left and the game tied at 53-53. 

Whitney Gantt hit two free throws that lifted CSUDH up 64-59 with 5:14 left and that's when the Broncos took control. 

A 9-0 run in two minutes put CPP up 68-64 with 3:06 left. Colson and La'kenya Simon-West each scored down low, and Walton scored a three-point play and CPP led, 66-64. Sophomore Megan Ford finished the run with another layup. 

After Brandie McCann's two free throws, Colson answered right away on a three-point play. She drove inside, scored a layup and converted after she was fouled and the Broncos led, 71-66, with 1:49 left.
Colson added three more free throws and Walton added two in the final 1:03. 

Colson led with her third straight double-double – 24 points and 10 rebounds. Walton had 20 points and Ford had 12. 

The Broncos scored 15 straight free throws in the final 20 minutes and finished 19-of-20 in the second half.