POMONA – Alicia Jones poured in a career-best 20 points and three others scored in double-figures as the Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball team earned a hard-fought upset victory over No. 16 Cal State San Marcos on Saturday afternoon at Kellogg Arena in Pomona.
With the victory, the Broncos rise to 9-3 overall and 6-2 in conference play. The Cougars, meanwhile, see their eight-game win streak snapped, dropping to 10-2 this season and 7-1 in the CCAA.
It was a close contest throughout as the teams fought through six tie scores and nine lead changes. The Broncos led for nearly 21 minutes while the Cougars led for just over 16 minutes and neither team would lead by more than eight points at any point in the matinee. CSUSM held its largest lead of the game, 9-4, midway through the first quarter, but CPP ended the quarter on an 8-1 run to capture an 18-14 lead before ultimately holding a six-point lead, 38-32, at the half.
On their first possession of the second half, Jones hit a jumper to post CPP's largest lead of the game at eight points, 40-32, forcing a quick timeout by CSUSM head coach Renee Jimenez. The Cougars came out of the break to go on a 13-4 to recapture the lead at 45-44. The Broncos responded by scoring the next seven points, including the only made three-pointer for CPP the entire game, to take a 51-45 lead at the 2:23 mark of the third quarter. However, after the Cougars scored the next four points, neither team would lead by more than three points for the final 11 minutes.
Both teams would trade buckets the rest of the way, and the nationally-ranked Cougars got within a point at 66-65 with 10 seconds to play, but
Kalaya Buggs hit two free throws with six seconds left, and on the ensuing CSUSM possession, Buggs ripped a pass out of the air at midcourt and the clock ran out, securing the 68-65 upset.
In the end, Jones had a team-best 20 points, while Buggs chipped in with 14 points,
Ciara James with 13 and
Chynna Cochran off the bench with 10. Buggs also flirted with a triple-double, grabbing eight rebounds and handing out seven assists in 39 minutes of action. James rejected four Cougar shots, and
Ally Bates corralled a team-high nine rebounds, adding six points on offense.
As a team, the Broncos connected on 26 of 59 shots, a 44.1 percent clip. Most impressively, CPP attempted just five three pointers, making just one, which came out of the hands of
Reina Sausedo in the third quarter. Conversely, CSUSM hit on 10 three-pointers in 24 attempts (22 of 55 shots overall).
Kelsey Forrester scored a game-high 21 points for Cal State San Marcos as every one of her 14 shot attempts came from beyond the arc. Dynnah Buckner added 18 for the visitors.
Cal Poly Pomona will head to northern California next weekend for games at Chico State (Thursday) and at Stanislaus State (Saturday).
Bronco Bits
- Head coach Danelle Bishop moves to 355-199 in her 19th season as a head coach, including 217-114 in 12 seasons at Cal Poly Pomona.
- The Broncos have started the season at 9-3 or better through the first 12 games for the seventh time in the last 13 seasons.
- CPP snaps a four-game losing streak to Cal State San Marcos to even the all-time series at 6-6.
- The Broncos have gone 2-0 against teams ranked in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II Top 25 poll this season, rising to 69-75 all-time against nationally-ranked teams, and 11-15 under head coach Danelle Bishop.
- Senior Ciara James has eclipsed a milestone in Saturday's win, going over 100 blocks for her career. With four blocks against CSUSM, she now has 103 career blocks in 95 career games, including 67 blocks at CPP, moving into seventh all-time in program history in that category.
- As a program, Cal Poly Pomona is now 1,030-396 in its 48th season, including 544-129 in home games and 289-92 in the month of January since its inception in 1974-75.
