Women’s basketball look to CCAA title after victory over Chico State
By Benjamin Grover, March 3, 2026
The Broncos’ magic number is down to one.
The Cal Poly Pomona women’s basketball team inched closer to their first California Collegiate Athletic Association title in 12 years after beating Chico State 77-45 Feb. 19.
The Broncos, having already clinched a CCAA tournament playoff berth, were two wins away from securing the CCAA title heading into their rematch against the No. 4 ranked Wildcats. They now sit at 18-1 in conference, needing just one more win.
Junior forward Sydney Nelson led the scoring for the Broncos with 19 points, including nine from the free-throw line after drawing six fouls.
Redshirt junior guard Andrea Stajic followed with 17 points, shooting a season-high 7-16 from the field including three 3-pointers.
“I just wasn’t hesitating,” Stajic said. “I was getting pretty hyped off stops. I was running in transition and my teammates found me.”
The Broncos flipped the Wildcats’ script on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball, holding the Wildcats to 24 points. Depsite ranking fourth in the CCAA with69 points per game, Chico State had its second worst shooting performance this year.
The Broncos also deconstructed the Wildcats’ CCAA third-ranked 61.8 points per game allowed, scoring 15 more points than their first meeting with the Wildcats Jan. 24.
The Broncos started off the first quarter strong showcasing their defense early, keeping the Wildcats scoreless for more than half of the first.
“That is always a goal of ours and to be able to do that against Chico was really good defense,” head coach Danelle Bishop said. “What’s great about this team is they are ultra-competitive, and they want to buy in and hold teams. … They knew they had to in order to give us a chance and I think that was the key to the game.”
Despite holding the Wildcats scoreless, the Broncos were only able to create a 6-0 lead in the first quarter. However, the Broncos never gave up the lead for the rest of the game.
Broncos guard Brielle Minor picked up two fouls in the first quarter, bringing her and the Broncos first quarter to a close 12-10.
Minor did not enter the game again until the third quarter.
In the second quarter, the Broncos put on a scoring clinic.
Chico State guard Kamil Reid initially tied the game for Chico 12-12 in the first minute of the second quarter, but after that, the Broncos put on a scoring clinic, starting with a 22-6 run to build a gap between them and the Wildcats.
Nelson and Stajic took control for the Broncos in the second quarter. The two combined for 18 of the 22 points in the quarter, including two 3-pointers from Stajic.
Minor returned to the game in the third, showing strength on both sides of the ball. She recorded two rebounds, two assists and five points while still in foul trouble.
“When I came back out, I was thinking about jump-stopping, looking to pass instead of taking it all the way,” Minor said. “A lot of teams look to take charges more than others. … Coming into this game, I knew that was probably going to happen.”
Sophomore guard Sydney Peterson kept the Wildcats from going down 30 points in the second half, scoring six of her 14 points in the third.
The Wildcats also had their biggest scoring success in the fourth quarter, scoring 14, after both teams had removed the majority of their starters. However, the Broncos bench still outscored the Wildcats, scoring 20 points in the fourth quarter.
Freshman forward Madison Eade led the Broncos offense in the fourth , scoring seven points in the including a 3-pointer.
Freshman guard Kadence Lloyd also had a lively spark in the fourth, connecting on two three-pointers and picked up a rebound and an assist.
With the CCAA tournament looming on the horizon, the Broncos will look to secure the one seed they have held since their loss to Cal Poly Humboldt Jan. 22.
“We’re all on the same page about what our goals are,” Minor said. “We’re thinking about it (clinching the one seed), but we don’t want it to affect our baseline.”
Feature image courtesy of CPP Athletics
