POMONA – On paper, Friday's Chico State-Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball game appeared to be a bit of a mismatch, pitting the veteran, battle-tested Broncos against a young and relatively inexperienced Wildcats squad. But on the court, the 'Cats threw a huge scare into Pomona and came within a couple minutes of recording a huge road victory over the defending NCAA West Region champions. Alas, it was not to be, as the Broncos scored 12 unanswered points in the final 1:51 to pull out an 81-76 win at Kellogg Gym.
 
Friday's loss dropped the Wildcats to 4-5 overall and 1-4 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Cal Poly Pomona improved to 6-3 on the season and 4-1 in CCAA play.
 

Hannah Womack led four Wildcat scorers in double figures, knocking down five 3-pointers on the way to a 22 point performance – her third straight game scoring 20 or more. Brooke Bowen delivered 14 points and seven rebounds, with Whitney Branham and Michelle Walker each contributing 10 points. Walker and Ashtyn Anderson paced the 'Cats with eight rebounds apiece, as Chico State bested Pomona on the boards 41-37 on the night. Chico State notched season highs with 47.2 percent shooting and 10 3-pointers, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Wildcats' fourth loss in the last five games.
 
The first 13 minutes of the opening half clearly belonged to the Wildcats. After spotting Pomona the first four points of the contest, Chico State went up 10-7 on the strength of a Bowen jumper, layups by Branham and Womack and four Walker free throws. The Broncos knotted up the game at 10-all, only to see the 'Cats slice and dice Pomona's zone defense on the way to a 23-7 run – highlighted by a Bowen 3-point play and two 3-point buckets by both Womack and Tyler Prange – to go up 33-17. Chico State extended its advantage to 18 points at 39-21, but with Pomona switching to a man-to-man defense, the Wildcats offense was held without a field goal over the final 6:50 of the period, and a late 12-4 Broncos run trimmed the Wildcats lead to 43-33 at halftime.
 
Thanks to layups by Branham and Anderson and an Annie Ward 3-pointer, Chico State led 55-40 six minutes into the second half, but with Womack, Branham, Bowen and Walker all in foul trouble, the Wildcats were forced to furiously shuffle their lineup. Pomona took advantage, whittling the deficit to seven three separate times before Womack buried a 3-pointer to push the 'Cats lead back to double digits at 66-56 with 9:38 to play.
 
Pomona refused to fold, scoring six unanswered points to pull to within 66-62, but a Walker layup and free throws by Prange and Womack kept the 'Cats on top 71-64. A huge 3-pointer by Ward and a baseline jumper by Bowen with 1:51 remaining bumped the lead to seven, but back-to-back baskets and two free throws by the Broncos made the score 76-75 with under a minute to play. Chico State's 23rd turnover of the night gave Pomona the ball back with 27 seconds to go, and Ariel Marsh promptly hit a pair of free throws to give the Broncos a 77-76 lead. Womack was fouled and had a chance to put the 'Cats back in front, but missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Pomona ended the game by converting four foul shots in the final seconds to post the come-from-behind 81-76 victory.
 
The Wildcats are back in action Saturday, taking on UC San Diego (5-5, 3-2 CCAA) at RIMAC Arena in La Jolla. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.; Mike Baca provides the play-by-play locally on Newstalk 1290 KPAY-AM and on the Internet via the Wildcat Athletics website. Live Stats and live streaming video is also available online.