POMONA - Cal Poly Pomona trailed by a single point with eight minutes to go in the third quarter, but several big runs thereafter dropped the Broncos to a 80-50 defeat against Cal State San Marcos in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) women's basketball battle Thursday night at Kellogg Arena.

CPP falls to 4-9 overall and 3-6 in the CCAA in beginning a season-long four-game home stand. A sixth consecutive victory moves preseason conference favorite Cal State San Marcos to 10-2 overall and 8-1 in league play. The Cougars sit in second place in the CCAA table, and are a perfect 6-0 away from home this season.

Cal Poly Pomona surrendered a 9-0 run in between baskets by Ciara James and Ally Bates and trailed 9-4 at the first-quarter media timeout with 4:30 to go. Out of the stoppage, James broke a scoreless string of 3:27 for the Broncos, with Dynnah Buckner immediately answering with a three-pointer to snap a run of 3:57 without a point for the visitors. Three free throws made it 15-6 in favor of CSUSM after one quarter.

The first two minutes of the second quarter featured four turnovers, three by the Cougars, and a pair of missed shots for CPP, before redshirt freshman Sydney Fedinec connected from beyond the arc on the left wing off a crosscourt pass by Bates. Within a minute, Kelsey Forrester likewise hit from long distance for CSUSM to make it 18-9.

Fedinec came up with a nice driving reverse layup in between five Cougar free throws, as the guests took their first double-digit lead of the night at 23-13 with 4:36 to go in the half. Back-to-back Bronco baskets by Monica Todd and Rebecca Islas preceded a three-point play by Sydney Buckley. Jayda Villareal produced a three-point play of her own for CPP a short time later after the teams had traded two-point field goals, and Ayah League drilled a three-pointer. The run extended to 8-0 as Todd got the steal on one end, and on the other, cut inside to accept a clever pass from League for the easy layup and and-one opportunity. CSUSM ultimately carried a 29-27 edge into the locker rooms at halftime following a strong 21-point second period for the Broncos.

A pair of Cougar triples bookended four Bronco points early in the third. The visitors parlayed the second one into an 8-0 run and 40-31 advantage, before Islas grabbed an offensive rebound and threw in a deep three from the right wing. A 10-0 stretch pushed the margin back out to double digits, at 54-39. The score after 30 minutes was 57-41.

Eight points in quick succession to open the fourth, six directly off of three Bronco turnovers and Cougar steals, forced a timeout and effectively put the result out of doubt, at 65-41. The run from the end of the third into the start of the fourth quarter was finally snapped at 14-0 when Villareal hit a three-pointer with 7:28 to go in the contest.

Todd paced the Broncos with 12 points, five rebounds and three steals. Bates, the reigning CCAA Player of the Week coming off her first double-double in the green and gold with season highs of 23 points and 13 rebounds in last Saturday's double-overtime triumph at Humboldt State, finished with six points, eight boards, three assists and two steals. Islas generated eight points and eight rebounds. Fedinec had seven points, three boards and two assists off the bench.

Akayla Hackson, a two-time CCAA Player of the Week this year for CSUSM, was a do-it-all again with 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Buckley (15 points), Jordan Vasquez (13) and Forrester (11) joined her in double-figure scoring, with Buckley adding a game-high seven assists and Vasquez seven boards. The Cougars shot 50.9 percent (29-57) as a team, with eight three-pointers and 15 steals.

Cal Poly Pomona continues the home stand this Saturday, Jan. 22, welcoming in area rival Cal State LA (5-8, 4-4 CCAA). Tipoff at Kellogg Arena is set for 5:30 p.m., with the men's game that night having already been canceled due to COVID-19 protocols. Please click here for CPP Athletics' latest basketball spectator policy.

All CCAA basketball contests throughout this 2021-22 season are streaming 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 CCAA Network has moved to a subscription-based model at just $9.95 per month. Subscribers have access to all CCAA broadcasts, both live and on-demand.

Bronco Bits: Cal Poly Pomona is 204-105 (.660) overall and 157-68 (.698) in CCAA play under 12th-year head coach Danelle Bishop ... Bishop's career mark is 342-190 (.643) in her 18th on-the-court season ... CPP began with the same lineup for the fourth game in a row, consisting of Ally Bates, Breanne Ha, Ciara James, Monica Todd and Jayda Villareal ... Bates is the only Bronco to start all 13 games ... CPP has used nine different starting lineups this year ... James' defensive rebound less than one minute into the game gave her 400 for her college career ... Todd's steal with 3:06 left in the game was her third of the night and 100th of her Bronco career ... Rebecca Islas has 499 points at CPP ... The Broncos are 2-3 at home in 2021-22 ... The all-time series is even at 5-5 (3-3 in Pomona), all under Bishop ... The Broncos have dropped three straight meetings, with CSUSM sweeping the two-game 2019-20 season series en route to earning a share of its first-ever CCAA regular-season championship ... CPP won the matchup prior to 2019-20, taking a 64-60 home decision on Feb. 9, 2019 ... The sides are scheduled to meet again in San Marcos on Saturday, Feb. 12, at 1 p.m.