POMONA, Calif. – Despite holding an 18-point lead early in the second half Tuesday, the Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball team stumbled toward the finish and suffered a 80-78 loss to Cal State L.A. in the first round of the conference tournament.

The sixth-seeded Golden Eagles move on the semifinal stage of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament while the Broncos will await the Division II postseason selection show to be aired Sunday at 7 p.m. on NCAA.com.

It proved to be a tale of two halves Tuesday night at Kellogg Gym, as CPP posted its best scoring half of 48 points to start off the contest. Turnovers got the best of the Broncos though, with CPP committing 22 while forcing 15 from the visitors.

Megan Ford, Sarah Semenero and Charlene Popoff put up impressive numbers on offense while the Broncos used a 25-for-30 effort from the free throw line to hold off the Golden Eagles' second-half charge until the last play. With CSULA trailing 77-76 in the final minute, Maryum Jenkins dropped in a layup to give the visitor's a one-point lead with 33 seconds left.

On CPP's next possession, Popoff drew a foul and sank one of her two free throws to even the score at 78-78. On the last possession, Jenkins proved to be the hero with another layup. That winning bucket came with two seconds to play and a hail mary inbounds pass from Ford landed in the arms of CSULA forward Lacy Ramon.

The Broncos shot 54.8 percent in the first half, including a 5-for-9 showing from beyond the arc. Semenero put together a stellar night at that range, as she knocked down four of her seven three-point attempts. Despite the team's turnover troubles, Semenero only committed one. Ford ended up playing all 40 minutes and shot a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line.

The visiting CSULA squad trailed up until the first half's 4:16 mark, when Tessondra Williams nailed a three-pointer to put the Golden Eagles ahead 34-33. The advantage for CSULA only lasted 16 seconds though as CPP bounced back with a 12-2 run and held the 48-38 lead going into the break.

The Broncos carried an advantage for the first 19:27 of the second half, until Jenkins hit her first layup. Her winning basket gave CSULA its largest lead of the game at two points, the final 80-78 result.

CPP sophomore guard Ariel Marsh joined the senior trio mentioned earlier in double figures with 11 points, as nine of those came from three-point range.