Box Score
POMONA, Calif. - Facing their longest losing streak of the season at two games, the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos rallied for an impressive 60-51 home victory Thursday over UC San Diego.
CPP improves to 21-4 overall and 18-3 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association and UCSD fell to 18-10 overall and 16-5 through league action. The Broncos will either end up with the first or second seed for the CCAA Tournament, depending on how results shake out Friday.
If Cal State Monterey Bay falls at home to Cal State Stanislaus and UCSD wins on the road against Cal State San Bernardino, CPP will earn the No. 1 seed. Otherwise, the Broncos will take the No. 2 spot and could host either Chico State, CSUS or Humboldt State.
On Thursday, CPP didn't trail at any point against the Tritons but faced a late UCSD rally. The Broncos led 27-22 at halftime and the advantage flucuated up to six midway through the second period. The Tritons managed to tie the score at one point during the closing half and made it a one-possession contest with less than two minutes remaining.
The Broncos finished strong though as they scored the final six points of the contest, with five of those coming from
Sarah Semenero. The junior forward finished with 18 points, while
Reyana Colson paced all scorers 26 points.
UCSD's Chelsea Carlisle, ranking second behind Colson in the CCAA for points per game, totaled 19 on Thursday.
The Broncos opened the contest on a 7-0 run, courtesy of a Semenero trey and two buckets by Colson. The CPP lead bounced back and forth in low single digits, as neither team established any sort of long run.
Just as she started the first half with a three-pointer, Semenero closed the period with one as well. That field goal gave CPP its five-point advantage at intermission.
Carlisle began the second half by knocking down a trey of her own, pulling the score to 27-25 in favor of the Broncos. The Tritons' Nicole Anderson-Jew fired in a three-pointer at the 14:33 mark to even the tally at 33-33, the last time in the game where the score was tied.
CPP jumped out to a 6-0 spurt after that point and maintained its advantage for the remainder of the contest. The Broncos' defense tightened up, holding the visitors to just two field goal attempts in the final four minutes.
The two teams shot similar percentages Thursday, with CPP hitting at 42.1 percent and UCSD knocking down 39.1 percent of its attempts. The Broncos found its difference maker on the offensive glass, as CPP grabbed 10 rebounds at that end while the Tritons pulled down just five.
To close out the regular season, the Broncos host Cal State East Bay Friday at 5:30 p.m. with CPP holding a Senior Night ceremony prior to the game.
