Women’s basketball outlasted Cal State Dominguez Hills 67-66 in a competitive game Thursday night at Kellogg Arena. The win helped the Broncos push their overall record to 22-4 and also extended their winning streak to three games.
The Broncos’ bench was key all night, contributing 28 points. Despite having a disadvantage in size, the Broncos were able to score 36 points in the paint.
“I liked our fight, grit, and how we battled through adversity when they made a really nice run,” head coach Danelle Bishop said. “I was really impressed with the way we responded, because they could’ve easily pulled it. They made a run and took the lead but we came right back, kept battling.”
Junior forward Rebecca Islas was outstanding for the Broncos, recording a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Senior guard Jordyn Shane also had a huge contribution for the Broncos, chipping in with 16 points and seven rebounds.
“I focused on if my threes were not falling then to just get to the rim and be aggressive, so that was my main focus,” Islas said. “It’s good to have a double-double again, I haven’t had one in a couple of games, so it felt really good.”
In the first quarter, the Broncos came out aggressive and quickly got on the board with a 3-pointer from Shane. They continued with the hot hand for the majority of the quarter and went on a 15-5 run up until the last four minutes of the quarter.
During the final three minutes of the quarter, the Toros took advantage of their height and physicality down low. That resulted in a 14-5 run that brought them back in the game.
For the first five minutes of the second quarter, the Toros continued to be aggressive and took the lead away from the Broncos. Despite being down by seven, the Broncos kept pushing and a crucial 3-pointer from Islas helped them go into the half only down by one.
In the second half the Broncos struggled to make shots and the Toros took advantage and went on a 7-0 run to start the third quarter that put them up 45-37. The Broncos finally woke up midway through the third quarter when Shane and Islas both knocked down jumpers that helped them go on a run and cut down the Toros’ lead to only three.
During the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, both teams continued shooting the ball well and kept it a close 1-point game. Moments later, junior forward Monica Todd nailed a jumper that started the Broncos’ 8-0 run to take the lead 64-57.
Midway through the quarter, the Toros continued to score points in the paint and quickly bounced back to tie the game with 1:04 on the clock.
With less than 10 seconds left in the game, the Broncos had possession of the ball and Shane attempted to make the last shot but it failed to go in. The ball then landed in junior guard Dominique Dotson’s hands and she quickly tried to put it back up but was fouled and sent to the line with :01 on the clock.
After missing the first free-throw, the arena went silent and with the game on the line she knocked down the free-throw to give the Broncos the victory, 67-66.
“After the foul, I just relaxed. I thought I was going to make both of them; after missing the first one I wasn’t really nervous. I just said to myself I have to make the second one, then I did and we won the game,” Dotson said.
The Broncos defeated Cal State San Bernardino 62-58 in the last game of the season to secure the No. 2 seed in the CCAA tournament.
Fitting that it was senior night, Shane made history as she surpassed the 1,000-point milestone in her CPP career.
Shane finished the game with 12 points and eight rebounds. Islas led the Broncos in points with 15.
The Broncos used their defense to ignite their offense as they scored 25 points off of turnovers.
Finishing the regular season with an overall record of 23-4 and 19-3 in conference play, the Broncos are heading into the conference tournament.
The Bronco will host Sonoma State on Tuesday for the first round. If the Broncos win, they will head to Stanislaus State for the final two rounds on Friday and Saturday.
