By Jacob Rodriguez, March 5, 2024
Cal Poly Pomona’s women’s basketball fell short Saturday, Feb. 24, in a showdown against the Stanislaus State Warriors 59-58.
Although the Broncos got off to a slow start and found themselves down by nine points in the last moments of the game, they rallied back and continued to fight till the final buzzer. With one second left, guard Breanne Ha took a 3-point shot that would’ve been the game-winner, but the shot fell short of the front of the rim, snapping the Broncos’ four-game winning streak.
Coming into this game, the Broncos boasted a 14-6 conference record, while the Warriors had a 10-11 record.
“Honestly, just wasn’t our best game,” said head coach Danelle Bishop. “We came out flat, played flat most of the game and finally played with a little urgency at the end.”
Forward Sydney Nelson scored the first points of the match with a jumper for the Broncos.
Both teams stalled throughout the first quarter until Bronco’s guard Andrea Stajic drove down the paint and got the layup to give the Broncos a 9-5 lead with three minutes and 49 seconds left.
Both teams began trading points toward the end of the quarter, with Nelson ending with two free throws, as they were down 17-16.
Stajic hit a 3-pointer to begin the second quarter, which gave the Broncos the lead back 19-17.
Both teams continued to trade points throughout the second quarter, with forward Jeanette Fine and Stajic firing 3-pointers, contributing to tying the game 29-29 by the end of the first half.
The defense began to struggle in the second half, with the Warriors continuing to rack up points as they went on a 17-10 run in the third quarter.
“I’m not going to say we had a complete slow start, but our defense dug us a hole,” said Nelson. “We should know how to execute; we should know our personal. It was just the defense that messed up, especially in the first half.”
The Warriors took advantage of CPP’s struggles, scoring 18 points off turnovers, bringing the Broncos down to a nine-point deficit with a score being 41-32.
Three minutes and 24 seconds into the third quarter, Ha fired a 3-pointer to help spark scoring for the Broncos. Nelson continued to help rallying the Broncos with free throws and a layup, slowly cutting the deficit by the end of the third quarter.
As the fourth was underway, the Broncos continued to fight to cut the deficit down to just four points. Nelson put on a showcase as she drove down the paint, consistently scoring as the turnaround began for the Broncos.
A jumper from forward Mydrea Moore and a 3-pointer from Stajic cut the deficit to 54-50, now down by four.
The Broncos continued to fight, scoring 19 points in eight minutes thanks to a couple of scores from Moore and Nelson that brought the score to 59-57.
A foul against the Warriors gave guard Kalaya Buggs the chance to tie the game with two free throws. With five seconds left, Buggs went 1-2, making the score 59-58.
Nelson then stole the Warrior’s inbound ball, and CPP called a timeout with one second remaining in the game. Ha fired a 3-pointer that narrowly failed to seal the game win.
For Stajic, taking in what happened in this game will help them prepare for the next one.
“What we’re taking is what we know,” said Stajic. “What we already know, and we’re going to keep moving forward with that.”
Bishop emphasized preparation and bouncing back for the last game of the regular season.
“We got to be ready and focused,” Bishop said. “We play San Bernardino last; we got to be ready at this point.”
Feature image courtesy of CPP Athletics