Friday, March 14, 2014

POMONA, Calif. – Alaska Anchorage senior Kylie Burns scored a team-high 16 points in her final game, but the inside presence of top-seeded Cal Poly Pomona proved too much Friday as the host Broncos earned a 60-56 win over the Seawolves in the NCAA Div. II West Regional Basketball Championships opening round at Kellogg Gymnasium.

The Seawolves (19-9) – seeded No. 8 – also got 10 points and eight rebounds from sophomore guard Jessica Madison as they pushed the nationally 18th-ranked Broncos (23-6) until the final minutes.

The Broncos were led by 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting from Daktronics West Regional Player of the Year Jada Blackwell, who added nine rebounds.

The California Collegiate Athletic Association regular-season champs also got a big game from forward Ashley Lovett, who had 12 points, 11 rebounds, two  assists and two steals without a turnover in 36 minutes.

UAA came out hot early, taking a 10-4 lead before the Broncos responded. CPP used an 8-0 run to go ahead and earned a 33-26 edge at halftime.

Trailing 36-31, Christina Davis found Emily Craft for a layup, and Burns scored five straight points to give UAA a 38-36 lead with 13:55 remaining.

After the lead changed hands a couple of times, Davis drained a straight-away three-pointer to knot it 44-44 at the 10:55 mark.

Lovett and Blackwell sparked another 8-0 surge for the home team, though, and the Broncos led 58-51 with 4:16 on the clock.

A free throw by Craft and back-to-back buckets from forward KeKe Wright made it a 58-56 contest with two minutes left before Blackwell answered with a driving layup to account for the final points of the game.

The loss snapped a 6-game winning streak in NCAA first round games for the Seawolves, who were making their 13th appearance in the national tournament.

The Broncos move on to face league rival Chico State in the regional semifinals on Saturday night. 

The winner of that game will face the winner of Saturday’s first semifinal between Montana State Billings and Simon Fraser in Monday’s regional championship game.