POMONA - A turnover, foul and free throw in the final six seconds sent the Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball team down to a difficult 59-58 loss to Stanislaus State in its California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) home opener at Kellogg Arena on Thursday night.

With the result, CPP drops to 2-4 overall and an even 1-1 in the CCAA. A sixth win in succession moves Stanislaus State to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in league play.

Cal Poly Pomona notched the first five points of the evening on a Jayda Villareal three-pointer and a Ciara James jumper. Two Kyanna Davis free throws eventually gave the visitors their first lead at 10-9. Stanislaus State would retain and in fact extend that advantage over the remainder of the period, with three straight Kaleigh Taylor points and a Da'Myiah Lewis layup giving it a 5-0 run and 19-12 lead after 10 minutes.

The second quarter began like the first, this time with Ally Bates' three-pointer preceding a layup by fellow senior Rebecca Islas. A triple by redshirt freshman Sydney Fedinec after two more Davis free throws closed the Broncos back to within one at 21-20. A second Bates make from beyond the arc, assisted by Ayah League following a Monica Todd offensive rebound, knotted the score up at 25-25 at the media timeout.

An Islas layup after a Chynna Cochran steal, and a James bucket from a Cochran assist, enabled the home side to retake edges of 27-25 and 29-28, respectively. Although two Taylor free throws put Stan State back on top briefly, the half ended on two Villareal free throws and an Islas layup as CPP went into the locker room with the score 33-30 in its favor.

Stan State scored 20 of its first-half points off 15 Bronco turnovers.

Midway through the third quarter, Villarreal ended a 6-0 run by the Warriors with a left-wing three-pointer off a stellar crosscourt pass from Cochran for 38-36. Moments later, Bates passed back out to the left wing for League to drain a triple to put the Broncos up, 41-36. On the next CPP possession, Fedinec found Villareal toward the right baseline for another three-pointer and a 44-36 bulge.

A pair by Fedinec at the charity stripe finally gave the Broncos their first double-digit advantage of the evening at 46-36 with 2:22 left in the third. CPP was aided by five consecutive free throws misses by the guests. Four combined makes from the line from there made it 47-39 after three quarters, as Stan State was held without a field goal for the last 5:17.

Fedinec answered a quick five points by the Warriors to begin the fourth by pulling up to the three-point line on the left side and being true with her shot for 50-44. The fightback continued as the next five points again went to the visitors ahead of a break in the action, leaving CPP with a quite tenuous 50-49 edge at the 7:16 mark.

Cal Poly Pomona settled things down a little bit at that point, as James knocked down two from the line, Bates stole an inbounds pass, and on the other end, James split two more free ones. Stanislaus State had an answer again, however, tallying the next three to pull back within one.

With just under a minute and a half remaining, Islas made a tough basket off a nice feed down low by Bates for 57-54. Stan State used an offensive rebound to notch two more free throws, and then grabbed another offensive board to get back to the line on its next possession following a Bronco turnover, but this time, Taylor missed two chances to tie the game from the stripe.

After League split a pair, Lewis did in fact level matters at 58-58 with 28.2 seconds to go, as CPP called timeout. Inbounding in the frontcourt with 5.5 seconds left, the Broncos unfortunately turned the ball over a 27th and final time and were called for a foul on Lewis with the steal. The second-year Warrior freshman made the first one, and with just 0.8 ticks on the scoreboard, the clock expired as she missed the second.

Islas posted her second double-double of the campaign with 12 points and a season-high 11 rebounds. Villareal joined her with 12 points, hitting on 3-of-5 threes. Fedinec scored 10 points, while James collected seven points, seven boards and a career-high-tying four blocks.

Lewis finished with a game-high 20 points for Stanislaus State, with Davis adding 17 and Taylor 13. The Warriors got zero points from their bench and missed 12 free throws, but ultimately notched 25 points off of those CPP turnovers. They collected 22 steals. Lewis in fact nearly produced a triple-double with 13 rebounds and nine of those thefts.

The Broncos remain in Pomona to face off with Northern rival Chico State this Saturday night, Dec. 4. Tipoff inside Kellogg Arena is again set for 5:30 p.m., with the men's game to follow.

All CCAA basketball contests throughout this 2021-22 season will stream live online via the CCAA Network at www.ccaanetwork.com. Fans may also download the CCAA Network app on your iOS or Android smartphone, tablet, or through web streaming devices such as Amazon Fire, Roku or Apple TV. The broadcasts are free of charge through the remainder of the 2021 calendar year. Admission into Kellogg Arena is free for CPP students, staff and faculty.

Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 202-100 (.669) overall and 155-63 (.711) in CCAA play under 12th-year head coach Danelle Bishop ... Bishop's career mark is 340-185 (.648) in her 18th on-the-court season ... CPP is 9-2 in CCAA home openers in the Bishop era, having won seven in a row before tonight ... The Broncos' starting lineup consisted of Ally Bates, Chynna Cochran, Rebecca Islas, Ciara James and Jayda Villareal ... CPP has used six different starting lineups over its first six games this season, with Bates and Islas the lone Broncos to begin all six ... Islas' double-double was her 11th in the green and gold ... The Broncos are 1-1 at home in 2021-22 ... CPP still leads the all-time series, 41-13 (21-5 in Pomona) ... The Broncos are 14-7 against the Warriors under Bishop (8-4 at home) ... The most recent meeting prior to Thursday saw Stan State take a 65-53 decision in Pomona in the first round of the CCAA Tournament on March 3, 2020 ... The Broncos had won four straight over the Warriors ahead of that matchup ... In the CCAA preseason coaches' poll, CPP was picked to place second with three first-place votes, and Stan State was favored for a share of sixth ... The sides will meet again in Turlock on Saturday, Feb. 5, at 5:30 p.m.