CARSON, Calif. -- The Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball team saw its season come to an end Friday night with an 87-61 loss to top-seed and No. 8 Cal State Dominguez Hills in the opening round of the 2023 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship Tournament at the Torodome in Carson.
The Broncos wrap up the season at 18-11 while the Toros (29-2) will advance to play Montana State Billings in the regional semifinal Saturday evening.
For the postgame press conference with CPP head coach Danelle Bishop,
Breanne Ha and
Ally Bates following Friday's season-ending loss,
CLICK HERE.
After falling behind by nine points in just the first three minutes, CPP went on a furious 33-14 run over the next 12 minutes, led by 14 points from
Donja Payne and 11 from
Breanne Ha during that span. In turn, the defense held CSUDH to just 5 of 22 shooting to take a stunning 39-29 lead with 4:13 to go in the first half. However, the Toros found its own spark once again and ended the half on a 17-6 run to take narrow 46-45 lead into the halftime break.
CPP was on fire in the opening 20 minutes, connecting on 52.9 percent (18 of 34) while CSUDH was just effective on 39.0 percent of their shots (16 of 41). The Broncos also dominated the paint, outscoring the Toros 26-8, and forced 19 CSUDH turnovers to only 10 for CPP.
Unfortunately, it was all Toros in the second half as they outscored the Broncos 22-4 in the third period and 19-12 in the fourth to cruise to the 26-point win. Cal Poly Pomona was held to just 20.0 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes (5 of 25) as CSUDH heated up and hit on 51.6 percent of its shots (16 of 31).
Ha was the leading scorer for CPP in the contest with 19 points, followed by 18 points from Payne, who also had a team-high nine rebounds.
Chynna Cochran chipped in with nine points and
Alicia Jones with seven points.
For the host Toros, Nala Williams led all scorers with 26 points, adding a double-double with 11 rebounds.
Bronco Bits
- Head coach Danelle Bishop moves to 364-207 in her 19th season as a head coach, including 226-122 in 12 seasons at Cal Poly Pomona.
- The Broncos are now 57-22 all-time in the NCAA Tournament (9-6 in the Danelle Bishop era), and 4-6 in the regional quarterfinal round.
- The Broncos are now 71-24 all-time against Cal State Dominguez Hills, losing the last six contests.
- The five 3-pointers made by Breanne Ha tonight is tied for third all-time in program history in a NCAA Tournament game.
- The Broncos went 2-4 against teams ranked in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II Top 25 poll this season, moving to 69-79 all-time against nationally-ranked teams.
- As a program, Cal Poly Pomona is now 1,039-404 in its 48th season, including 375-210 in away games and 119-55 in the month of March since its inception in 1974-75.
Record Book Updates
- Ally Bates:
- Broke the all-time program record for most minutes per game in a career, averaging 34.7, topping the previous record of 32.0 set by Reyana Colson from 2007-11.
- Tied for fifth all-time for most 3-point field goals made in a career with 114, and is now 10th all-time for most 3-point field goals attempted in a career with 287.
- Tied for sixth in program history for most 3-point field goals made in a season with 64, and tied for seventh all-time for most 3-point field goals attempted in a season with 180.
- Ciara James:
- Ends her two-year career at CPP at No. 5 on the all-time list for most blocks in a career with 80.
- Breanne Ha:
- Tied for eighth all-time for most 3-point field goals made in a season with 61.
- Team:
- The 174 made 3-pointers by the Broncos this season are the fifth-most in a season in program history, and the 526 attempts from 3-point range is the third-most in a season in program history.
- The 92 blocks this season are tied for fourth-most in a season in program history.
