In This Corner

No. 7 Cal Poly Pomona 57
No. 2 Cal State San Bernardino 52

SAN BERNARDINO -- A layup by Vanessa Dominguez and a three-pointer by Ashley Moody with 1:11 left in the game Tuesday enabled Cal Poly Pomona to defeat Cal State San Bernardino 57-52 in the quarterfinals of the 2008 CCAA Women's Tournament.

The Broncos, the No. 7 seed advance to the semifinals at either 12:30 or 3 p.m. on Friday.

CSUSB, the No. 2 seed, is done for the tournament but awaits the seeding for the NCAA West Regional tournament on Sunday night. The Coyotes (21-7) are ranked No. 3 in the West.

Dominguez led with teams with 17 points and 12 rebounds while Reyana Colson had 13 points and Andrea Ohlssen 10 as the Broncos improved to 12-15 on the season. Three Coyotes each scored 10 points -- Vanessa Wilt, Shanae Blake and Leslie Pickron. Wilt also had a game high 14 rebounds for her 25th double-double of the season.

However, Wilt picked up her fourth foul early in the second half and was not a factor until her layup put the Coyotes on top 47-46 with 5:19 left. She fouled out with 3:33 left as Dominguez converted both free throws for a 49-47 lead.

The Coyotes shot a frigid 26 percent (16 of 61) and were even worse at the three-point line, making just three of 24 (12.5 percent) in one of their worst shooting efforts of the season. The team made only 17 of 30 free throws (57 percent).

Pomona shot only 30 percent (18 of 60) and made only five of 21 three-pointers (24 percent) and were 16 of 26 at the foul line (62 percent). Each team grabbed 50 rebounds in the game.

No. 1 Chico State 62
No. 8 Cal State Dominguez Hills 45

CHICO – The crowd stood as one and cheered as the final minute ran off the clock. They were cheering for Audriana Spencer, playing in her final home game in front of the Acker Gym faithful. They were cheering for the Wildcats, who completed an unblemished season at home with a 62-45 shellacking of Cal State Dominguez Hills in the opening round of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship Tournament. They were cheering for Chico State's 25th win of the season, the second most in the program's history. They were cheering for a dominating Wildcats defense that forced 29 turnovers on the night.

Yep, there was plenty to cheer about Tuesday night.

The Wildcats, ranked No. 18 in the nation and No. 2 in the West Region, improved to 25-5 on the season. Only the 2005-06 Final Four team that finished 28-4 has won more. They also finished their home slate 13-0 and have won 17 straight and 45 of their last 46 at Acker Gym. It was their second home victory in five days against Cal State Dominguez Hills, which finished what was once a promising season 13-15. The Toros were the coaches' preseason pick to win the CCAA title that the Wildcats eventually claimed for the third time in four years.

Top-seeded Chico State will now prepare to face the seventh-seeded Cal Poly Pomona in the conference tournament semifinals Friday at 3 p.m. The Broncos knocked host Cal State San Bernardino out of the tournament with a 57-52 upset Thursday. In other tournament action Thursday, No. 3 UC San Diego held off a hard-charging San Francisco State team 59-55, and No. 4 Sonoma State beat No. 5 Humboldt State 65-55. UC San Diego and Sonoma State will square off at 12:30 Thursday in the other semifinal game. The winners will meet Saturday at 5 p.m. with an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship Tournament on the line.

Spencer scored nine points in the first 7:23 of the game as the Wildcats build a 14-8 lead they would never relinquish. The senior finished with a game-high 15 points to move past Michelle Vanden Bosch (1,312 career points from 1993-97) into sixth place on Chico State's career scoring list. She has now scored 1,319 career points. Samantha Copenhaver, in fifth, scored 1,397 in her career. Spencer left Acker Gym for the final time in a Chico State women's basketball uniform Tuesday night as the University's career leader in 3-pointers made (196), 3-point field goal percentage (.399), wins (101), and games played (121). She also ranks fourth with 315 career assists and sixth with 181 career steals.

The crowd was given the opportunity to stand and cheer for Spencer and the Wildcats because of their dominating performance on the defensive side of the ball. They held the visiting Toros to their lowest scoring output of the season with a suffocating defense that forced 29 turnovers. Christine Vest came off the bench to nab a career-high six steals, while fellow sub Taylor Lydon set her career mark with three. The Wildcats held Cal State Dominguez Hills to 37-percent shooting and its leading scorer, Jessica Liang, to five points on 1-of-8 shooting.

Meanwhile, Spencer handed off the offensive catalyst baton to Jade Smith-Williams for the second half. The sophomore point guard scored all 13 of her points after intermission, including the team's first 11 points of the half. Her lone 3-pointer of the night sparked a 9-0 run that stretched Chico State's lead to 51-32 with 7:50 remaining. Cal State Dominguez Hills cut it back to 13, but Spencer scored on a drive and then made two free throws to put the game away for good.

True freshman Natasha Smith finished with nine points and a season-high eight rebounds for the Wildcats. BVest scored eight points, and Melissa Richardson had seven.

Michelle Kribell, Ashley Johnson, and Alana Bailey scored eight points apiece to lead the Toros.

No. 3 UC San Diego 59
No. 6 San Francisco State 56

LA JOLLA – The UC San Diego women’s basketball team slugged out a 59-56 win over San Francisco State in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Quarterfinal on Tuesday night in RIMAC Arena.

With the scored tied at 56-56 and :08 remaining, Michelle Osier grabbed her 13th offensive rebound and 18th of the game, drew a foul and sank two free-throws to put the Tritons up by two. As SFSU brought the ball up, Alexis Mezzetta came through with a huge steal with :03 left, icing the game for the Tritons. With the win, UCSD improves to 23-8, while the Gators drop to 14-14.

Osier finished the game with 26 points on 11-for-22 shooting, to go along with her 18 total rebounds. “God bless Osier,” said Head Coach Charity Elliott. “How many more opportunities did we get because of her play under the basket. Thirteen offensive boards, that really makes a difference.”

Meaghan Noud added 17 points and four rebounds. Noud connected on three three-pointers, extending her single-season school record total to 74.

While Mezzetta did not score in the contest, she grabbed six rebounds and two steals, the last steal with three seconds left clinched the win.

In the first half, the score was tied six times, the final tie in the half coming at 20-20 with 6:23 to play. The Tritons went on a 7-0 run, including four Noud free-throws to lead 27-20 with 3:59 remaining. UCSD would keep the seven point lead at 31-24 at the half.

In the second half, the Tritons extended their lead to 11 points at 40-29 with 16:00 remaining. UCSD still held a 52-43 lead with 6:40 remaining after an Osier lay-up. SFSU would go on an 11-2 run, tying the game up at 54-54 after two Brio Rode free-throws with 2:08 remaining.

After Noud hit two free-throws with 1:37 remaining, SFSU’s Dominique Hunter scored on a lay-up to retie the game at 56-56 with 1:06 left. The Tritons would miss a shot with :41 left, but an offensive rebound by Alexis Gaskin gave the Tritons another possession.

The miss set the stage for Osier who missed a shot with :11 left, but grabbed her own rebound, went back up and was fouled with :08 left.

After Mezzetta stole the ball, Gaskin was fouled and made 1-of-2 free-throws. SFSU got a shot off from just inside half-court, but the shot was wide and the Tritons had the 59-56 win.

Gaskin finished the night with 12 points and nine rebounds.
SFSU was led by Jessica Hout-Freeman with 23 points and five rebounds.

No. 4 Sonoma State 65
No. 5 Humboldt State 55

ROHNERT PARK -- Behind 21 points from Danae Wellander and 20 from Genny Anderson, Sonoma State advanced to the CCAA Basketball Tournament Semifinals with a 65-55 win over Humboldt State on Tuesday night at Seawolf Gym. The Seawolves also reach the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2001-02 as they go to 20-8 on the season. The 'Jacks will see their season end at 16-12.

Sonoma State will head to San Bernardino for a Friday afternoon matchup against UC San Diego. The Tritons were a 59-56 winner of San Francisco State on Tuesday. Chico State and Cal Poly Pomona will meet in the other semifinal.

The Seawolves needed some late magic to avoid the upset on Tuesday night. Trailing by five with 5:31 to go, Laure Redfield hit a three to put the Seawolves within two. A pair of Chelsey Armacost free throws tied it a minute later and the Seawolves went up for good on a Genny Anderson jumper with 3:40 left.

Sonoma State held the Lumberjacks scoreless for nearly six minutes, from the 6:21 mark until a layup by Paige Peterson with :45 seconds remaining. SSU made it a ten-point bulge by making ten of their last eleven free throw attempts.

The Seawolves got points from just four players in the game. Following Wellander and Anderson were Chelsey Armacost with 15 and Lauren Redfield with nine. Redfield led the team with ten rebounds and Wellander had seven assists.

Genny Anderson's 20 points move her to within four of 1,000 for her career. She will have a chance to become just the fourth SSU women's basketball player to reach that milestone on Friday.

The Lumberjacks got 12 points and 15 rebounds from Sonoma County product Katie Franci. Paige Peterson was HSU's leading scorer with 14 points.

2008 CCAA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE & RESULTS

March 4 (Tue) – At Campus Sites
Women
No. 1 Chico State 62, No. 8 Cal State Dominguez Hills 45
No. 7 Cal Poly Pomona 57, Cal State San Bernardino 52
No. 3 UC San Diego 59, San Francisco State 56
No. 4 Sonoma State 65, No. 5 Humboldt State 55

March 7 (Fri)
Women's Semifinal Game 1: No. 2 UC San Diego vs. No. 3 Sonoma State – 12:30 P.M.
Women's Semifinal Game 2: No. 1 Chico State vs. No. No. 4 Cal Poly Pomona – 3:00 P.M.

March 8 (Sat)
Women's Championship - 5:00 PM