Broncos Steady at No. 5 in West Region, Ready for CCAA Tournament
By: Alex Kline, Assistant Athletics Director for Communications
POMONA, Calif. – The Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball team remained steady at No. 5 in the NCAA DII Regional Rankings that came out on Wednesday afternoon. This was their second consecutive week in the five spot, with the top two teams also remaining the same in Azusa Pacific and Montana State Billings.
NCAA Tournament & Selection Show
Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball is one of the most storied programs in NCAA Division II history, currently holding the most national titles among active DII schools with five. This includes winning the first-ever DII championship held in 1982, where legendary coach Darlene May guided the Broncos to their first title with a 29-7 record. They went on to win back-to-back titles in 1985 and 1986, followed by another back-to-back title run in 2001 and 2002.
Having made the NCAA Tournament in three of the past four seasons (excluding COVID), head coach Danelle Bishop looks to lead the Broncos to their 29th NCAA Tournament appearance in just a few weeks. They will need to remain in the Top 8 of the West Region Rankings to earn an at-large bid, or win the CCAA Tournament in San Bernardino this weekend to earn the conference's automatic bid. Should the rankings remain the same, the Broncos would be the No. 5 seed with No. 1 seed Azusa Pacific hosting.
The field of 64 teams will be announced during the NCAA Selection Show this Sunday, March 10th, at 7:30 PM PST on NCAA.com. The west region will be the first of the eight regions announced during the show.
Broncos holding steady at No. 5 in the west region rankings! @cppwbbThey will need to remain in the Top 8 when the NCAA Tournament field is announced during the NCAA Selection Show this Sunday. pic.twitter.com/pQ8XuOY60C
CCAA Tournament
The Broncos' immediate focus is on the CCAA Tournament taking place this weekend at Coussoulis Arena in San Bernardino, CA. The No. 3 seed Broncos will open up against No. 6 seed Sonoma State on Thursday, March 7th, at 12:00 PM. Should they win that game, they will advance to the semifinals against Chico State on Friday, March 8th, also at 12:00 PM. The championship game will take place on Saturday, March 9th, at 5:00 PM.
Cal Poly Pomona and Sonoma State are 1-1 against each other this season, each winning on the road. Their latest matchup resulted in a 76-68 win for the Broncos in a game that went into overtime on February 3rd.
The Broncos have made 27 CCAA Tournament appearances in their history, which is remarkable considering there have only ever been 28 CCAA Tournaments in the history of the conference. The only year CPP did not have an appearance was 2021-22, where they finished 8-15. The Broncos have claimed 11 CCAA Tournament titles, the most recent coming in 2010-11. They own an all-time record of 31-15, including 7-6 in the quarterfinals, 13-7 in the semifinals, and 11-2 in the finals. This is their fifth time being the #3 seed since 2007-08, owning a record of 1-4 as the #3 seed.
You can catch all of the games on the CCAA Network.
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