By Benjamin Grover, March 24, 2026
The Cal Poly women’s basketball team secured its spot in the NCAA Division II West Regional final after defeating Western Washington University 57-54 March 14, marking the Broncos deepest run in the NCAA Division II tournament since the 2014-2015 season.
The Broncos once again continued to showcase why defense is their strong suit, forcing a season-high 14 blocks, one coming from redshirt sophomore Hunter Hudson on the final play of the game to seal the Broncos win.
Junior forward Mydrea Moore was at the heart of the defense with seven blocks, setting the record for most blocks by a Bronco in NCAA tournament history. Moore also scored 11 points and had eight boards to go along with her record-breaking game.
“I honestly did not even notice how many blocks I had,” Moore said. “… We work on post defense a lot in practice along with making it hard for our opponents. Nothing’s easy. You have to earn everything.
With the Broncos’ defensive motivation coming from Moore, freshman forward Madison Eade and the bench provided the offensive spark for the Broncos.
Eade scored 13 points, with seven coming in the second quarter. Freshman guard Kadence Lloyd also scored nine points, contributing to 26 total bench points, the most for the Broncos in this playoff campaign.
“We challenged the bench before going into this tournament,” head coach Danelle Bishop said. “… I think you’ve seen that this tournament in a big way with several of our players that have come in.”
The Broncos got off to a shaky start, going down seven points early in the first quarter.
Vikings senior forwards Olivia Hodges and Aspen Garrison combined for nine points halfway through the first quarter after layups from Moore and junior forward Sydney Nelson to set the score at 9-4.
The Broncos shut out the Vikings on their next six possessions, crucially forcing three turnovers. The time allowed the Broncos to cut the Vikings lead to 9-8 after Moore scored a pair of free throws.
However, a 3-pointer from junior guard Joy Haltom eventually propelled the Vikings to taking an 18-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Eade’s impact on the game began in the second quarter, contributing to 12 of the Broncos’ 16 points in the quarter.
“I really did not want to go home,” Eade said. “… We were down when I came in and I just really wanted to make a difference in the moment.”
Redshirt junior guard Andrea Stajic also scored a crucial 3-pointer late in the second quarter to cut the lead to 24-17.
The Broncos closed out the quarter on a 7-0 run after the Vikings combined for six points from Hodges and junior guard Demi Dykstra.
The third quarter was a high-tempo back and forth shootout, with both teams splitting 17 points apiece.
Hodges continued to pose the biggest threat for the Vikings, scoring four points early along with a 3-pointer from junior guard Libby Stump to grow the Vikings lead to 35-26.
Eade, who was subbed out to begin the half, was put back and marked her return quickly scoring a layup and an and-one in the quarter to set the score at 39-35.
Lloyd cut down the Vikings’ lead to 45-43 after making a layup, but a Haltom layup gave the Vikings a 47-43 lead into the half.
The fourth quarter was a free-throw battle due to both teams shooting a combined 3-31 from the field.
The Broncos retook their first lead since the first points in the game after a pair of free throws from junior guard Brielle Minor gave the Broncos a 49-47 lead.
The Broncos defense stayed true in the fourth quarter, holding the Vikings scoreless for just under the first seven minutes of the quarter and recording six blocks in the quarter, including three from Moore.
A 3-pointer from Lloyd put the Broncos in an even more commanding position up 52-48.
The Vikings fought the ball back on an inbound in Broncos’ territory with four seconds remaining.
However, the game-winning block from Hudson clinched a place in the West Regional final with a final score of 57-45.
Moore talked about how the team’s mentality is to keep the foot on the gas.
“We didn’t come this far just to come this far,” Moore said. “We are continuing to work hard to make sure our season doesn’t end here.”
Feature image courtesy of Nathan Herde
