MONMOUTH, Ore. – Trailing by two points heading into the final minute of Friday's season opener, the 19th-ranked Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball team closed out the game on a 9-0 run to secure a 62-55 victory over Northwest Nazarene.
 
Sophomore guard J.J. Judge delivered the go-ahead bucket for the Broncos, sinking a three-pointer with 25 seconds on the clock to give CPP a 58-55 lead. Although the Broncos shot just 50 percent from the free throw line on the afternoon, seniors Sarah Semenero and Megan Ford combined to go 4-for-4 in the final 10 seconds to put the game out of reach.
 
The successful free throws under pressure capped off impressive performances from both Semenero and Ford Friday. Semenero hit four three-pointers en route to setting a new career high in points with 20, while also adding nine rebounds. Ford recorded her 10th career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
 
It all amounted to a dramatic first win for CPP, one of four squads competing at the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA)/Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Classic this week. The loss dropped the Crusaders to 2-2 overall in the young 2011-12 season.
 
The Broncos' defense got off to a strong start in Friday's game, as CPP held the Crusaders scoreless through the first five minutes and 51 seconds of action while building up a 9-0 advantage. Semenero started the run by knocking down a three-pointer, the first basket of the new season, and gave the Broncos the 9-0 margin with a layup at the 14:44 mark.

NNU used an edge on the offensive boards to score its first bucket to stop the CPP spurt and even rallied to bring the lead to 9-6 after a jumper from Megan Hingston with 12:36 remaining in the period. The Broncos didn't allow the gap to get any closer though in the first half, using a 5-for-10 effort from beyond the arc to keep their distance.
 
The Crusaders managed to make it a two-possession game after Briaunna King knocked down two free throws with 12 seconds to go in the half but Broncos' freshman Mian Dingle grabbed an offensive board and sunk a layup with two seconds on the clock for her first career points. That impressive play left the scoreboard at 31-23 in favor of CPP heading into intermission.
 
Out of the break, NNU improved its shooting and capitalized on a few Bronco turnovers to roll out to a 13-5 run that evened the score at 36-36. A two-minute drought of field goals for both teams was snapped when Alla Dzhidzhiyeshvili dropped in a layup to give the Crusaders their first lead of the afternoon at 38-36.
 
The momentum shifted back and forth, with CPP's Rosslyn Beard and J.J. Judge scoring back-to-back buckets to regain a 40-38 advantage for the Broncos around the midway point of the second half. NNU tied the score a number of different times before the teams were deadlocked at 50-50 going into the final four minutes.
 
The squads traded key buckets, as Beard hit at a three-pointer to put the Broncos ahead before the Crusaders' Chelsie Luke fired in a trey of her own to tie the game once again. Hingston put NNU ahead, 55-53, heading into the final 60 seconds.

The battle-tested Broncos ended the game by going on a 9-0 run in that final minute though, with the run initiated on a Ford layup to tie the score with 51 seconds to play. Judge nailed a key shot, drilling a three-pointer with 25 seconds on the clock to bring CPP ahead, 58-55.
 
Although the Broncos went 9-for-18 from the free throw line overall Friday, Ford and Semenero each went 2-for-2 on their attempts in the last 10 seconds to give CPP the 62-55 season-opening win.
 
Up next, the Broncos challenge host Western Oregon at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Wolves of WOU play CCAA challenger Cal State L.A. on Friday at 3 p.m.