By Cael Cross, September 15, 2026
Former Cal Poly Pomona women’s basketball player Lisa Ulmer was inducted Aug. 26 into the California Collegiate Athletic Association Hall of Fame Class of 2026.
Ulmer now has three separate hall of fame inductions, following her individual 2014 induction into the Cal Poly Pomona Athletics Hall of Fame and her 2026 induction in the CPP Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the 1981-1982 women’s basketball team.
“I was very surprised,” Ulmer said. “I think the CCAA started in ‘82 or ‘83, so it’s over 40 years of great athletes. It’s really an honor to be included among the best.”
Ulmer began her career at CPP in the 1980-81 season under longtime coach and fellow hall of famer Darlene May. The Broncos finished that season 30-9, capturing third in the 1981 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women tournament after defeating Lenoir-Rhyne 85-65 in the third-place final.
Ulmer led the team in scoring that season, posting a collegiate career-high 13.7 points per game along with 6.6 rebounds.
However, her biggest team accomplishment came in the following season after the NCAA began sponsoring women’s basketball tournaments in 1982 and CPP made the switch over from the AIAW tournament. The Broncos posted a 29-7 record that year, including a perfect 12-0 record in conference play, en route to winning the inaugural NCAA Division II women’s basketball tournament in Springfield, Massachusetts, defeating Tuskegee University 93-74.
Ulmer scored 21 points in the final and was selected to the NCAA Division II All-Region 8 Team, as well as the NCAA Quarterfinals All-Tournament Team. She recorded a career-high nine double-doubles that season and held a team-high 86.9% from the free throw line on 99 attempts, which ranks second all-time in CPP history in single-season free throw percentage.
“Back then, Division II teams played against Division I a lot,” Ulmer said. “More times than not, we would beat Division I teams, so we knew we had a talented group.”
The Broncos beat several Division I teams that season, including the University of Utah, San Diego State, Santa Clara, Illinois State, Southwest Missouri State, University of Hawai’i and Fresno State twice. The elevated competition paid dividends, as CPP won every NCAA tournament game by double-digits, including a 21-point win over San Francisco State in the round of 16.
The tournament’s final game ball with the Broncos’ signatures resides in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield.
Ulmer’s final two seasons at CPP brought two more CCAA regular season championships and another trip to the NCAA tournament final in 1983, losing to Virginia Union 73-60. The Broncos only lost one conference game in the four years Ulmer played, going 46-1 during that time span.
May was extremely tough on the team, according to Ulmer, which brought the best out of them.
“She was hardcore,” Ulmer said. “You had to really be on point every day in practice. She wasn’t going to put up with nonsense. I wouldn’t say we were afraid of her, but we respected her, and I think she set the tone in terms of that run of championships.”
Ulmer wasn’t just held to team success either. She earned All-CCAA First Team honors in 1981 and All-CCAA Second Team honors in 1982 and 1983, while also being named a Kodak All-American during those three years. Ulmer is one of only two Broncos to earn All-American honors in three different years, alongside former teammate Vickie Mitchell.
She also ranks in the top 10 in multiple statistical categories in CPP history. Ulmer ranks seventh all-time in points (1,607), fifth in rebounds (851), fourth in free throw percentage (.804) and ninth in combined total stats (2,745). In addition to her single-season free throw percentage record, she also finished eighth in most field goals made in a single season (236).
Ulmer credits her family, particularly her older brother, for encouraging her to pursue basketball.
“My brother taught me how to play basketball,” Ulmer said. “He’s six years older than me. I just followed him around and he let me play when I got good enough. I would get to play in the front yard with the neighborhood kids.”
The 1982 national title-winning squad became the catalyst for arguably the most successful Division II women’s basketball program in history, winning four more titles in 1985, 1986, 2001 and 2002 to tie for the most Division II women’s basketball national titles with North Dakota State, who have since moved up to Division I as of 2003.
Current women’s basketball head coach Danelle Bishop talked about the pressures of coming into such a decorated program.
“I hadn’t felt any pressure up to any point until I was walking in and I go, ‘Oh my goodness, they have five national titles here. What am I doing?’” Bishop said. “Being able to walk in every day and knowing the tradition of excellence and the standards the program has, … it’s special. This is a special place to be. It means something when you put that jersey on. It means something when you walk in the gym every day and the only banners you see in there are national championship banners and NCAA West Regional Championship banners.”
Bishop has continued the program’s success since her arrival in 2010, winning two CCAA Coach of the Year awards, two CCAA regular season championships and reaching the 300-win milestone at CPP after defeating Central Washington for her third NCAA West Regional Championship last season.
Bishop had a relationship with Ulmer before coming to CPP, running into her several times during Ulmer’s post-CPP career as a referee, noting she didn’t even know about Ulmer’s career as a Bronco until she got here.
Ulmer went on to have a 32-year career as a referee, spending 28 of those years in the CCAA. She officiated the first four CCAA Tournament championship games and represented the CCAA at the NCAA Regionals six times.
Ulmer is now the tenth CPP athlete to be inducted into the CCAA Hall of Fame, the most of any school, with the closest being Cal State Dominguez Hills with eight. Ulmer is also the fourth Bronco from women’s basketball, following May, Debra Larsen and Violet Palmer.
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Brian Swanson noted how CPP has been able to produce top-level athletes and tied it to how the school tries to create the best environment for future student athletes.
“If you look at it, we’ve had some teams that have been very consistent and have had outstanding success,” Swanson said. “Our baseball team has three national championships, women’s basketball has five, men’s basketball has one, women’s soccer just won one, and men’s soccer has been to the championship a couple times. So, it’s really a credit to our student-athletes of the past, what they built and what we’re doing now, and the student-athletes and the coaches we have here that compete not on just a conference level but on a regional and national level.”
Swanson also mentioned Ulmer’s association with CPP past her playing career, noting that she still attends games and events from time to time.
Ulmer said her biggest piece of advice to future student athletes is to be willing to commit time and make sacrifices, as well as being able to understand the message from their coaches beyond the tone.
“You’ve got an opportunity to do something special,” Ulmer said. “So many kids who play sports in high school; very few get to go on to college and play. Be dedicated, be disciplined, stay positive, and I think good things will happen both academically and athletically.”
Ulmer and the seven other members of the hall of fame class will be honored at the 2027 CCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament at Cal State San Bernardino in Coussoulis Arena March 6, 2027.
Feature image courtesy of CPP Athletics