SAN FRANCISCO – The visiting Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball team employed a 16-4 run in the final four-plus minutes of the first half to pull away for a 72-59 triumph over San Francisco State in a California Collegiate Athletic Association matchup Saturday in the Main Gymnasium.

 

Despite Dominique Hunter's 11^th double-double of the year on a season-high 21 points and game-best 13 rebounds, the Gators drop to 1-17 on the season and 1-13 in league action. The Broncos, meanwhile, had four players reach double figures, led by Megan Ford's 18 points, to raise their record to 15-2 overall and 12-1 in the CCAA.

 

“Pomona is a solid team and our girls had a chance to compete against a high-caliber club,” said SF State head coach Joaquin Wallace. “If we could ever play two solid halves, we could see some improvement.”

 

Nicole Hicks also got into the act offensively for the Purple and Gold with a career-high 16 points, while Michaela Booker added nine.

 

The Gator defense shut out the CCAA's leading scorer Reyana Colson; however, J.J. Judge and La'kenya Simon West contributed 13 points apiece off the bench, while Jennifer Bryant tallied 10 points of her own. Judge connected on 4 of 6 field goals from beyond the 3-point arc as CPP finished with a combined 9-for-19 effort from long distance.

 

Despite maintaining an 18-13 edge in points off turnovers, SF State was outscored 26-12 in the paint and shot just 40.8 percent from the field (20-49). Conversely, the Broncos drained 51.9 percent of their attempts from the floor, including a 14-for-24 clip (58.3 pct.) in the second half.

 

The contest was a defensive struggle midway the first half as a Hicks jumper gave the Gators their only lead of the night at 11-9 with 11:26 remaining. SF State's good fortune quickly evaporated, however, as Judge drilled a triple and Rosslyn Beard hit a jumper on consecutive possessions to put CCP ahead to stay, 14-11, at the 10:22 mark.

 

The Gators trimmed the deficit to one on four occasions, including a 19-18 spread following a pair of Hicks foul shots with 4:26 left on the clock. However, the Purple and Gold mustered just two field goals for the remainder of the half, while Kaitlin Derby's 3-pointer with four seconds to go capped a 16-4 surge that provided the Broncos a 35-22 cushion heading into the locker room.

 

CPP stretched the margin to 20 points by the 12:55 mark of the second half as a Simon West layup gave the visitors a seemingly comfortable 50-30 edge. SF State was not quite ready to abandon ship at this juncture as Sherika Miller and Booker drained consecutive 3-pointers to highlight a 14-1 run over a span of 2:53 that narrowed the gap to 51-44 with 10:02 left to play.

 

The Gator momentum quickly stalled, however, as two Ford layups sandwiched around a Charlene Popoff jumper restored a double-digit lead for the Broncos at 57-44 with 8:01 remaining and SF State never threatened again.

 

The Gators hit the road for a pair of CCAA encounters next week when they square off against UC San Diego (Feb. 3) and Cal State East Bay (Feb. 5). Tip-off for both games is set for 5:30 p.m.

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