POMONA - The Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball team rallied behind a rather remarkable second-half performance from redshirt freshman Breanne Ha to defeat Biola University, 81-76, in its 2021-22 home opener Wednesday night at Kellogg Arena.

It was in fact the Broncos' first actual game inside their friendly confines in 624 days, since a 65-53 loss to Stanislaus State in a first-round matchup of the 2020 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament on March 3, 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

CPP's first win of the new season moves it to 1-2. Biola, located in La Mirada and picked to place fifth in the Pacific West Conference, falls to 2-1. The Broncos are favored for runners-up in the CCAA, garnering a trio of first-place votes. CPP remains a perfect 16-0 in the all-time series between the area foes that dates back to the 1974-75 season. The Eagles had started their year last weekend by knocking off a pair of the Broncos' CCAA rivals in Cal State LA and Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Ha, who didn't even play in the first half, finished with a career- and game-high 22 points over just 14 minutes in a breakout performance in her home debut. The Rancho Cucamonga native shot 7-of-11 from the field, including 5-of-8 from three-point range, and it was still even her two free throws that iced the result with 2.9 seconds to go.

The home side registered the first points of the night on a deep three-pointer by Rebecca Islas after a steal under her own basket by Cosette Balmy, a junior college transfer out of France who was making her first start in the green and gold. Islas added a second triple from almost the same location, just half a step closer, for 6-2.

Biola tied the score at 8-8 through three-pointers on back-to-back trips by Stephanie Lee, but Islas continued to carry the Broncos in the early going, answering with successive layups to give her 10 of her team's first 12. Jayda Villareal banked in a triple for a 15-10 lead at 5:29.

Islas got the strip-steal underneath before redshirt freshman Sydney Fedinec connected for three on the other end to go up 20-14, and on the next trip, Ally Bates fed Balmy with a nice bounce pass on the baseline for an easy lay-in and a 22-14 advantage. Bates added consecutive makes over the final minute as CPP led 26-17 after the opening period.

A tough, left-handed scooped layup to cap off a drive from the right wing by Bates made it 30-23 in the second quarter. However, a 14-0 Biola run around the first called timeout of the night by CPP gave the visitors their first lead of the contest, ultimately up 37-31. The stretch featured three-pointers by Lee and Madi Chang.

A layup from Ayah League finally stopped the bleeding as the Broncos went 6:37 without a field goal. A Sydney Moran triple had the Eagles ahead 40-33 at the break. The teams combined for 24 turnovers over the first 20 minutes, with five by CPP during the lengthy BU run.

Cal Poly Pomona tallied the first six points of the second half and forced Biola into a quick timeout, with Bates wrapping a pair of buckets, both assisted by Balmy, around a Ciara James lay-in. After the Eagles split a pair of free throws, Bates reentered the contest and dumped it down low for Islas to tie the game at 41-41 at the media timeout.

That's when Ha took the game over. Her right-wing three-pointer regained a slim 44-43 edge for CPP at the 4:45 mark. Another Ha triple, this one from the left side, made it 47-45, and was followed moments later by an Islas hit from beyond the arc, also from the left wing and assisted by Ha, for a 50-45 cushion. As it were, a third Ha deep ball within a span of 3:05, made it a 53-45 game after three quarters.

The teams traded baskets through the first couple of minutes of the final stanza, including a running floater from the right baseline by Ha. Her fourth three-pointer, from the right with the shot clock winding down, made it 60-52.

The lead grew to as many as 12 points, but a pair of Chang triples kept Biola in it, and the guests actually closed back to within just three at 70-67 through seven straight points thanks in part to three CPP turnovers. It was Ha again to the rescue, as on successive trips, she provided a driving layup and yet one more three-pointer to enable her Broncos to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Islas backed Ha up with 17 points while Bates added 15, combining to shoot 14-of-25 from the floor. Balmy handed out a game-high eight assists and collected six points, four rebounds and three steals. James narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and game highs of 12 boards and four blocks. Villareal had five points, four assists, four rebounds and a game-best four steals.

For the Eagles, Lee's 18 points came largely on 4-of-9 shooting from deep. Jordan Rabe and Amiah Simmons joined her in double-figure scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Cal Poly Pomona next heads back on the road to conclude non-conference action, making the short trip to Irvine this Friday, Nov. 19, to take on a fourth PacWest opponent in Concordia University Irvine (2-0). The Eagles, who will be contesting their home opener, took up the fourth spot in the PacWest's preseason coaches' poll.

Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 201-98 (.672) under 12th-year head coach Danelle Bishop ... Bishop's overall career mark is 339-183 (.649) in her 18th on-the-court season ... The Broncos are 3-0 against Biola with Bishop at the helm, including most recently prior to Wednesday, an 82-64 decision in the 2017-18 home opener on Nov. 14, 2017 ... CPP used its third different starting lineup in three games, with junior college transfer Cosette Balmy drawing her first start as a Bronco alongside the quartet of Ally Bates, Rebecca Islas, Ciara James and Jayda Villareal ... CPP is 10-1 in home openers since Bishop took charge, including five straight victories since a lone loss (70-44) to Azusa Pacific on Nov. 13, 2015 ... The Broncos finished 10-4 at home in 2019-20 ... At the conclusion of this four-game 2021-22 non-conference slate, CPP will have played the teams picked to finish first, third, fifth and fourth in the PacWest's preseason poll, in that order.