ARCATA – Breaking open a tight game early in the second half, then holding on down the stretch, Cal Poly Pomona emerged with a 80-78 win over Humboldt State in California Collegiate Athletic Association women's basketball action Friday.

The win improved Cal Poly Pomona's record to 9-7 overall and 5-2 in the CCAA. Losing for the first time at home this year, Humboldt State fell to 9-5 and 4-3 in league.

"I thought they executed the well," HSU's head women's basketball coach Joddie Gleason said. "Despite missing three of their players, they had others that hit their shots well."

After a pair of free throws by Cal Poly Pomona's Sarah Semanaro extended the Broncos lead to four points, HSU's Jennifer Enos drove the length of the court for a layup to trim it to two with 1.7 seconds remaining. Katie Franci stole the Broncos' inbounds pass, but her shot from half court hit the front of the rim to end the game.

Franci led all scorers with 25 points while also grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds. Also scoring in double figures for Humboldt State were Taylor Kilgore, with 14 points, Brittney Taylor, with 13, and Paige Peterson, with 10 points and four assists.

Reyana Colson paced the Broncos, scoring 19 points and dishing 11 rebounds. Ally Smith scored 14 points and Rosslyn Beard had 10 for Cal Poly Pomona.

Grinding through the first half and frequent stoppages, the Lumberjacks and Broncos battled on even terms as the break approached. Humboldt State managed to set the pace, however, keeping Cal Poly Pomona from taking the lead.

Cal Poly Pomona finally tied the game at 26-26 when Colson hit a short jumper with 5 minutes, 26 seconds left in the half. Humboldt charged ahead again, gaining its largest advantage at 39-33 on a Kilgore three-pointer, but a pair of free throws by CPP's Jessica Duran closed out the half with her team trailing, 39-35.

A completely different sequence of events opened the second half, Cal Poly Pomona knocking down the first 10 points of the period in quick fashion. Keeping the Jacks to a single attempt each trip down the floor, the Broncos moved ahead by nine points on Colson's jump shot less than five minutes into the half.

The lead grew to as many as 11 points before HSU mounted a charge, finally pulling within five again on Taylor's two free throws. Pomona grew its margin again, grabbing a 12-point lead when Danah Smith hit a three-pointer with 8:34 remaining.

Humboldt didn't fold, stringing together its own surge and cutting the lead to 69-68 on Peterson's short jumper with three and a half minutes left to play. But the Broncos found answers down the stretch

Next up for HSU is Saturday's CCAA game against Cal State San Bernardino. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in Lumberjack Arena.

"We need to bounce back with confidence for tomorrow night's game," Gleason said. "We need to have a short term memory, but absorb tonight's game and bring the same intensity tomorrow."

Newspaper Box Score
Cal Poly Pomona vs Humboldt State University
1/16/09 5:30 p.m. at Arcata, Calif. (Lumberjack Arena)
At Arcata, Calif. (Lumberjack Arena)
CAL POLY POMONA 80, HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY 78
CAL POLY POMONA (9-7, 5-2 CCAA)
COLSON, Reyana 9-16 1-2 19; SMITH, Ally 6-11 2-2 14; BEARD, Rosslyn 4-5 2-2
10; SMITH, Danah 3-6 1-2 8; SEMENERO, Sarah 1-3 5-8 7; WALTON, Stephisha 3-9
0-2 6; JOSHI, Neha 2-5 0-0 5; DURAN, Jessica 1-1 2-2 4; DERBY, Kaitlin 1-1
0-0 3; KOTULA, Paulina 1-4 0-0 2; SERVIN, Stephanie 1-2 0-0 2; BROWN,
Nicolette 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-64 13-20 80.
HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY (9-5, 4-3 CCAA)
FRANCI, Katie 7-12 4-7 21; KILGORE, Taylor 5-7 1-1 14; TAYLOR, Brittney 4-9
5-6 13; PETERSON, Paige 4-8 2-2 10; HALSEY, Bree 3-3 2-3 8; BOBIC, Andrea
2-7 2-3 6; ENOS, Jennifer 2-9 0-0 4; WILLIAMS, Kayla 0-3 2-2 2; O'KEEFE,
Kristina 0-0 0-0 0; OSBORNE, Luiza 0-2 0-0 0; ALABA, Trisha 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 27-60 18-24 78.
Cal Poly Pomona...............   35   45  -   80
Humboldt State University.....   39   39  -   78
3-point goals--Cal Poly Pomona 3-8 (SMITH, Danah 1-1; DERBY, Kaitlin 1-1;
JOSHI, Neha 1-4; SEMENERO, Sarah 0-1; WALTON, Stephisha 0-1), Humboldt State
University 6-16 (FRANCI, Katie 3-4; KILGORE, Taylor 3-4; BOBIC, Andrea 0-4;
ENOS, Jennifer 0-2; OSBORNE, Luiza 0-2). Fouled out--Cal Poly Pomona-WALTON,
Stephisha, Humboldt State University-PETERSON, Paige. Rebounds--Cal Poly
Pomona 33 (WALTON, Stephisha 7), Humboldt State University 40 (FRANCI, Katie
12). Assists--Cal Poly Pomona 21 (COLSON, Reyana 11), Humboldt State
University 14 (PETERSON, Paige 4). Total fouls--Cal Poly Pomona 24, Humboldt
State University 18. Technical fouls--Cal Poly Pomona-None, Humboldt State
University-None. A-753