Box Score | AZUSA, Calif. - Despite trailing through much of the second half Wednesday at Azusa Pacific, the Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball team recaptured the lead with 21 seconds left on the clock.
Scrappy play from seniors
Jennifer Bryant and
Ashley Boggs helped put the Broncos in front during that final minute but the Cougars got a go-ahead jumper from Amanda Sims with 12 seconds to play, enabling APU to secure a dramatic 55-54 win on its homecourt.
CPP falls to 3-5 overall this season and after a holiday break, the Broncos will resume play on Jan. 3 with a conference home game against UC San Diego.
Boggs finished Wednesday's game with a career-high 25 points on 9-for-17 shooting. She also added eight rebounds, including five on the offensive end.
Bryant also stepped up in the clutch with a pair of key plays in the final two minutes. At the 1:16 mark, Bryant knocked down a jumper from inside the paint after an assist from Boggs. On the defensive end in the next Cougars' possession, Bryant chased down a loose ball and tossed it out of bounds off an APU player just before momentum carried Bryant out of play.
The Broncos' next offensive sequence featured Boggs pulling down her most important board of the contest. After the ball caromed off the rim, she grabbed it along the baseline and then drove it right back to the hoop while drawing contact. Then, Boggs knocked down both of the resulting free throw attempts to put the Broncos ahead 54-53.
CPP had limited Sims to a 4-for-16 shooting effort through the first 39 minutes and 48 seconds of the contest but that fifth field goal proved to be the eventual game winner.
Stellar rebounding and free-throw percentage proved to be the keys for the Cougars on Wednesday as APU outrebounded the Broncos, 40-33, and went 10-for-11 at the line. Hannah Kenny gave a boost to the Cougars' lineup as she recorded a double-double performance of 18 points and 13 rebounds while hitting six of her seven free throw attempts. As a team, CPP shot 66.7 percent at the charity stripe.
One day after recording a career-high 36 points,
J.J. Judge joined Boggs in double figures Wednesday with 10 points and two rebounds. Judge continues to shoot well at the free throw line, going 5-for-6 against the Cougars to settle her season mark at 91.9 percent.
The Broncos started strong Wednesday as a Judge three-pointer at the 11:29 mark in the first half gave the visitors an early 16-8 lead. The margin would widen to nine points after Boggs knocked down a trey of her own at 8:15. The Cougars proceeded to go on an 11-0 run from that point forward though and took a 30-26 lead into halftime.
CPP showed plenty of resiliency in the second half by chipping away at the APU advantage. A free throw from
Mian Dingle tied the game at 34-34 with 9:18 left and a Boggs layup on the next possession even put the Broncos in front.
The visiting CPP squad took the lead on three different occasions in the closing period and Boggs provided the go-ahead points in each instance. But in all three situations, including the game winner, the Cougars bounced back on the next possession to retake control.
