Women’s basketball came away with two wins on the road as Cal Poly defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills on Thursday night and Cal State L.A. on Saturday afternoon. The two wins push the Broncos with an overall record of 14-2 and conference record of 10-1. Their winning streak is now extended to seven games.
On Thursday night the Broncos defeated the Toros 68-57. CPP held Dominguez to just .257 percent shooting from the field all night.
“Tonight even though it wasn’t perfect, we just made a step in the right direction of getting better at things that we wanted to get better at in the last few games,” head coach Danelle Bishop said. “We played a really good athletic team and they were big too, but I was proud of our effort.”
Junior forward Monica Todd had a double-double in the game as she recorded a team-leading 14 points and 12 rebounds.
“We were playing bigger bodies this game and I really had to make an impact just to get on the boards and box out,” Todd said. “Kasey, Becca and I, when we get in we have to make sure we are the bigger bodies no matter how big or tall our opponents are.”
The Toros had an early lead in the game, but junior forward Kasey Smit scored consecutive baskets down low to give the Broncos a 4-2 lead just four minutes into the game.
Despite the Toros’ size advantage down low, the Broncos continued to drive to the paint. After a three-pointer by junior guard Dominique Dotson, the Broncos led the Toros 19-8 with just a minute left in the first quarter.
Smit ended the quarter with eight points, showing her force down low in the paint. Dotson was one of four Broncos with double figures in points (10) and also contributed with two assists and two rebounds in the game.
“The last couple of games I haven’t been an offensive threat for my team,” Smit said. “I think I needed for confidence and coach told me to be aggressive and I really took that on today.”
Starting the second quarter the Broncos went on a 7-2 run to push their lead to as high as 16. As the half was coming to an end, the Toros made a late run as they cut their deficit to nine with the Broncos leading 35-26.
With the Toros’ size advantage, they recorded 11 offensive rebounds. As the Broncos struggled to contain the Toros’ bigs down low, they got into foul trouble, as the Toros shot 20 free throws in the first half to just 11 from the Broncos.
Coming out of the half, the Broncos’ defense locked down the Toros as it only allowed five points in the entire third quarter. The quarter ended with a 54-31 Bronco lead.
“We did make adjustments in our zone and our matchups trying to cover certain areas a little bit more,” Bishop said. “We did a good job on that and it threw them off a little bit. I was really excited the way we came out.”
Despite a late push by the Toros, the Broncos sealed the victory. Smit ended the game with 10 points and eight rebounds. Senior guard Jordyn Shane had an all-around game as she contributed with 10 points, five assists and four rebounds. On Saturday afternoon, the Broncos defeated Cal State L.A.74-58. Dotson led the Broncos in points with 17 in the game. Shane was right behind her with 15 points and also added five steals in the game. The Broncos will now look to extend their winning streak to eight games as they will host Sonoma State on Thursday night and San Francisco State on Saturday afternoon. The Broncos sit in second in the CCAA with just a game behind UC San Diego in first place.
