LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Despite 15 points off the bench from Kasey Smit and 13 from Jordyn Shane, the Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball team saw their 2018-19 season come to an end with a nailbiting 62-60 loss to 24th-ranked Azusa Pacific on Friday night in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship Tournament at RIMAC Arena in La Jolla.

The No. 5 seed Broncos finish the year at 25-6 overall while the No. 4 seed Cougars (26-5) advance to Saturday's semifinals against top-seed and host UC San Diego (30-0).

Neither team held a double-digit lead at any point on Friday as it was a close contest throughout.  Azusa Pacific raced out to a 6-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game, but the Cougars would never lead by six or more points the rest of the way. 

On the other end of the floor, the Broncos grabbed their largest lead of the game with 8:18 to go in the third period, a 39-31 advantage.  In fact, neither team led by more than three points in the final 12 minutes of the game and those final 12 minutes featured seven ties.

Late in regulation, Azusa's Savanna Hanson hit a pair of free throws to break a 60-60 tie with 15 seconds left, and out of a CPP timeout, Shane had an open look at a game-tying shot at the buzzer, but could not connect as the Cougars held on to beat the Broncos in regulation.