TURLOCK, Calif. – Alicia Jones went off for 23 points and Donja Payne came off the bench to chip in with 17 points and 11 rebounds as the No. 4 seed Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball team defeated No. 5 seed Chico State, 67-59, in the opening round of the 2023 CCAA Basketball Tournament Thursday night at Fitzpatrick Arena on the campus of Stanislaus State.

The Broncos rise to 18-9 overall and advance to face top-seed and No. 6-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills (27-1) in the CCAA Tournament semifinals Friday at 8:00 pm. The Wildcats end their season at 18-11.
 

WBB | @CPPWBB's Alicia Jones puts on the headset on the CCAA Network postgame show to talk about Thursday's win over Chico State in the opening round of the @GOCCAA Tournament. The Broncos will face top seed Cal State Dominguez Hills Friday at 8 pm in the semifinals in Turlock! pic.twitter.com/6FzLrmsOnC

— CPP Broncos Athletics (@cppbroncos) March 3, 2023

 
To hear what head coach Danelle Bishop, Donja Payne and Alicia Jones had to say about the victory over Chico State, CLICK HERE.
 
In the third game this season against the Wildcats, the Broncos started slow in the first half, but chipped away and found themselves with a 31-29 lead at the halftime break. CPP would not relinquish the lead the rest of the way, even building a 12-point 66-54 lead late before earning the 67-59 win.

The Broncos led in nearly every statistical category, including rebounds (45-34), bench points (19-6), blocks (3-1), steals (8-4), points off turnovers (20-12), points in the paint (28-10) and second-chance points (10-7). CPP also shot 41.7 percent from the floor on 25 of 60 shooting while Chico was 32.7 percent on 18 of 55. In fact, 11 of Chico's 18 made shots came from beyond the three-point line while the Broncos only connected on a pair of three's.

Jones' 23 points was one point off her season best, hitting 9 of 15 shots while grabbing nine rebounds. Payne was 7 of 14 from the hardwood, accounting for most of her 17 points, and Kalaya Buggs added 12 points with five rebounds, five assists and two steals.
 
For more information about the 2023 CCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, including access to box scores, recaps, photo galleries, postgame press conferences and more, visit goccaa.org/WBBTourney.
 

Alicia Jones' 23 points led all scorers on the first day of the 2023 CCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. She completes the day by advancing @cppbroncos to the semifinals @cppwbb #CCAAhoops pic.twitter.com/b65bC26Qqd

— CCAA (@goccaa) March 3, 2023

 
Bronco Bits

• Head coach Danelle Bishop moves to 364-205 in her 19th season as a head coach, including 226-120 in 12 seasons at Cal Poly Pomona.
• CPP won all three games against Chico State this season, rising to 32-28 all-time against the Wildcats.
• The win was also the first-ever win over Chico State in the CCAA Tournament (now 1-3 all-time in the postseason event).
• The Broncos have won their first CCAA Tournament game in 1,455 days, rising to 31-14 all-time in the conference tournament, and 7-6 in the quarterfinal round.
• CPP is now 2-2 all-time as the No. 4 seed in the CCAA Tournament.
• Despite missing 14 games due to injury, Donja Payne recorded her team-leading seventh double-double of the season.
• Alicia Jones posted her fourth 20+ point game of the season.
• In 26 appearances all-time in the CCAA Tournament, the Broncos are set to play in their 20^th semifinal game (13-6 all-time in the semifinal round).
• Looking ahead to Friday, the Broncos own a 5-3 record against Cal State Dominguez Hills in the CCAA Tournament (the last conference tourney matchup against CSUDH was an 80-67 win for CPP in the quarterfinal round on Feb. 27, 2018).
• As a program, Cal Poly Pomona is now 1,039-402 in its 48th season, including 101-58 in neutral site games and 119-53 in the month of March since its inception in 1974-75.