Box Score
BOX SCORE
ARCATA – In a battle to the very end—where the Jacks held the upper hand in much of regulation—Humboldt State just could not pull off the upset of No. 16-ranked Cal Poly Pomona Broncos, falling 83-79 in overtime.
The loss drops the Jacks to 10-3 overall, 6-3 in California Collegiate Athletic Association action, while the Broncos improve to 10-2 overall and 6-2 in conference action.
Kayla Williams and Megan Ford both scored 23 points for their respective teams, but it was Cal Poly Pomona who sunk key opportunities, including a game-tying-three-point shot by Sarah Semenero to send the game into overtime.
The beginning of the first half was a battle to see who would hold the edge heading into halftime. CPP capitalized first, but the Jacks never let the Broncos out of sight. With just under ten minutes left in the first half, the Jacks grabbed the lead and didn't let go.
Lisa Petty—who tied her season-best 22 points—and
Caitie Richards combined for a six-point run to put the Jacks up with a nine-point cushion.
CPP stayed in the game with Charlene Popoff scoring four of her 17 points in the last two minutes before the half, but Petty sunk a three-pointer to give the Broncos a 10-point deficit to climb out of.
The Jacks came out of the locker room energized, scoring a jump shot from
Whitney Howard in the first 30 seconds, but Cal Poly Pomona was not ready to throw in the towel. After turning the ball over 13 times in the first half, the Broncos never turned over the ball for the rest of the game.
"It's tough to beat a team that doesn't give up any turnovers in the second half," said head coach
Joddie Gleason.
Richards—who scored 14 points—put up an arching three-point shot with one second left in regulation to seal the win for the Jacks, but just missed, sending the teams into overtime.
Williams found netting on the first shot of overtime, sinking a three-pointer to put HSU up.
Bree Halsey committed a foul to send Semenero to the line. Semenero hit both her free throws and Judge sunk a jumper to put the Broncos back in the lead—something they hadn't been since the first half.
The Broncos extended their lead to five, Williams moved around some CPP defenders to grab two points, dropping the lead to three and making the game within reach. With just nine seconds left in overtime, however, Judge was sent to the line for two free throws. As the crowd watched anxiously, Judge sunk her first shot to squash HSU's hopes of tying the game.
Ford led the rebounding effort for the Broncos, snagging 15 boards on the night to complete one of the team's two double-doubles of the night—the other from Popoff with 11 rebounds. Rebounding was not the Jacks' strength this game, however, finding themselves on the wrong side of a 46-37 rebounding advantage.
"We forced them to take tough shots and then they got the offensive board and put-back and that was the difference at the end of the day," said Gleason.
Four players fouled out of the game, three of which were Jacks. Howard, Halsey and
Patrice Saindon each picked up five fouls on the night. Popoff's five fouls placed her on the bench as the game was winding down.
"It's huge to have three people foul out," said Gleason. "Our best two posts, who have to guard their key players, and our backup point guard—people who play a ton of minutes—fouled out, so it's hard to play with that."
Although the Jacks are disappointed with the loss, they'll look to bounce back as they host San Francisco State Saturday night at 5:30 p.m.
"We just look at this loss, and if it means anything to you, you come back and look to take it out on San Francisco State," said Gleason. "They're a great rebounding team and we were a really bad rebounding team tonight so that's going to be a challenge for us."
