POMONA - Cal Poly Pomona wiped out a 15-point first-half deficit and actually took the lead in the fourth, but ultimately surrendered a 67-63 decision to Chico State in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) women's basketball action Saturday at Kellogg Arena.

With a second straight narrow home defeat this weekend, CPP is now at 2-5 overall and 1-2 in the CCAA. Chico State moves to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in league play.

Neither team scored until Rebecca Islas put in a pair of free throws about a minute and a half into the contest to conclude a possession that saw CPP notch four offensive rebounds. Chico State went 0-for-4 from the field for starters until Jazmyne Lillie's deep jumper made it 4-2 in favor of the hosts with just under seven minutes to go in the opening period.

A Jayda Villareal three-pointer broke a brief 4-4 tie, with Morgan Mathis answering for the Wildcats ahead of the media timeout. A Bailey Jones triple then gave the guests their first lead of the evening at 10-7. Following an Islas layup, Chico State ended the quarter on a 5-0 run thanks to a second Jones three-pointer and a Haley Ison bucket for 15-9.

Both squads increased their offensive efficiency in the second quarter. Despite getting three-pointers from redshirt freshman Sydney Fedinec on its first two possessions to open the period, CPP fell behind by 14 to the suddenly-hot-shooting 'Cats, 31-17, when Stella Rollo completed a three-point play. Earlier, back-to-back triples by Myli Martinez and Mathis had followed Fedinec's pair and made it a 31-23 bulge as Bronco head coach Danelle Bishop was forced into a timeout.

After the and-one by Rollo, Mathis answered Cosette Balmy's layup with another basket from beyond the arc to make it a 15-point cushion at 34-19. Balmy's three-point play following her own offensive rebound closed the Broncos back to within 10 at 36-26, with the halftime score settling at 39-28. Chico State shot 64.3 percent (9-14) in the second quarter, connecting on four of its seven three-point tries.

The teams traded a couple of free throws over the first two minutes of the third quarter, before Villareal gathered the rebound off a Fedinec miss and fed Ally Bates for a top-of-the-key three-pointer. Islas then made a top-of-the-key triple of her own on the next Bronco possession after a defensive stop, and just like that it was a five-point game, 41-36.

Over the next couple of minutes, Fedinec was accurate on two more three-pointers to answer a pair of two-point baskets for Chico State, as CPP kept chipping away, down just three at the media timeout, 45-42. A wide-open left-wing triple by Lillie was damaging to the Bronco effort, but the period ended on a driving Islas layup for a 51-47 Wildcat lead.

An Islas bucket before fouling out and two Bates free throws made it a two-point game at 53-51, before redshirt freshman Breanne Ha's three-pointer regained a 54-53 edge for CPP. That lead was short-lived, however, as Mathis answered right away at the other end with a triple, and ran back out to a 60-56 advantage nearing the three-minute mark.

Bates and Martinez traded layups ahead of a CPP timeout with 1:37 left. Coming out of that, Todd took a nice pass from Bates underneath for the easy layup, but Jordan Morris generated a nice individual move for the offsetting basket yet again. A Bronco miss necessitated a foul, and after Charity Gallegos split two free throws, Ha drilled a deep three from straight on to keep her team alive with 19.1 ticks left.

Gallegos dribbled the ball off her foot and out of bounds, and Bishop called a timeout again with 12.7 seconds to go. From there, Fedinec missed a baseline jumper, and Villareal grabbed the rebound and was fouled in the act of shooting. Her first shot rimmed out, however, and she missed the second on purpose, with Chico State getting the rebound that time and closing out the game at the line.

Islas and Fedinec scored in double figures for CPP with 15 and 12 points, respectively. Islas added seven rebounds. All of Fedinec's points came on a season-best four three-point field goals. James led all players with nine boards and two blocks. In her return to the court following a one-game absence, Balmy produced seven points.

Mathis finished with 15 points for Chico State, all on three-pointers as she hit on five of her 11 attempts. Morris had 10 points, with Gallegos contributing game highs of six assists and three steals.

The Broncos wound up two rebounds short of their season high with 53, to just 31 by the Wildcats for a season-best rebound margin of plus-22.

Cal Poly Pomona is off in the coming week and returns to the court up in Hayward at Cal State East Bay on Thursday, Dec. 16. Tipoff at Pioneer Gymnasium is 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.

Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 202-101 (.667) overall and 155-64 (.708) in CCAA play under 12th-year head coach Danelle Bishop ... Bishop's career mark is 340-186 (.646) in her 18th on-the-court season ... CPP's starting lineup consisted of Ally Bates, Chynna Cochran, Rebecca Islas, Ciara James and Jayda Villareal for the second game in a row after it had fielded a different five in each of the first six contests ... Bates and Islas are the lone Broncos to begin all seven games ... Cosette Balmy came in off the bench midway through the first quarter after missing her first game of the season on Thursday ... The Broncos are 1-2 at home in 2021-22 ... CPP still leads the all-time series, 29-27 (17-11 in Pomona), but has dropped the last three meetings after getting swept in the 2019-20 season series ... The Broncos are 13-8 against the Wildcats under Bishop (8-4 at home) ... In the CCAA preseason coaches' poll, CPP was picked to place second with three first-place votes, and Chico State was favored for fifth ... The sides will meet again in Chico on Thursday, Feb. 3, at 5:30 p.m.