SPORTSCOPE : Cal Poly Women Shoot for 5th Crown in Row

Since the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. first started its postseason basketball tournament five years ago, the Cal Poly Pomona women have had a stranglehold on the top spot.

The Broncos have won the first four conference tournaments and are overwhelming favorites to make it five in a row when the event is held tonight in Pomona. The finals are Saturday in Bakersfield.

The semifinals are at 6 p.m. and 8 tonight at Poly Pavilion and the championship game is at 6 Saturday at Cal State Bakersfield.

In the opening round, top-seeded Pomona faces fourth-seeded Chapman (18-9) at 8 after second-seeded Cal State Northridge (10-17) and third-seeded Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (13-13) square off in the first game at 6.

Pomona enters the game on a tear, having won 16 games in a row to bring its record to 23-3. The Broncos, who finished 12-0 in winning their ninth straight CCAA regular-season title, are ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Division II behind Delta State of Mississippi.

The last defeat for Pomona was against Southern Utah State--a Division I team--in December.

Since then the Broncos have flourished behind the potent tandem of All-America center Niki Bracken (6-2) and forward Marcine Edmonds (6-1) on their front line.

Bracken, a senior, leads the CCAA with an average of 19.4 points and 9.6 rebounds. Edmonds, a senior who has played especially well in the second half of the season after missing last season with a knee injury, averages 13.1 points and seven rebounds and has made a conference-leading 60% of her field-goal attempts.

Pomona also starts juniors Kelly Connelly (6-1) at forward and Stephanie Coons (5-11) and Denise Ogburn (5-5) at guard. Coons is averaging 9.4 points and 4.3 assists. The Broncos have also received outstanding play from reserve center Danielle Carter, a 6-2 freshman who averages 10.8 points and 7.2 rebounds.

The Broncos will face a Chapman squad that struggled to a 6-6 conference mark after starting the season in impressive fashion. The Panthers, are sparked by 5-9 seniors Bethel Trice at forward and Julie King at guard. Trice averages 13 points and King 12.7.

Chapman is also one of only three schools that can say it has defeated Pomona in a CCAA game, having accomplished the feat in 1984 and 1985. Pomona has an all-time CCAA record of 103-4 in nine seasons in the conference.

The Cal State Los Angeles men’s basketball team will make its first appearance in postseason competition since the 1985-86 season when it plays in the fifth annual California Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament Friday at Cal State Bakersfield.

The Golden Eagles, who finished the regular season in fourth place in the conference at 7-7 and 14-13 overall, will have the unenviable task of meeting host and top-seeded Bakersfield in the first round of the tournament at 8 p.m.

Bakersfield, ranked No. 11 in the NCAA Division II with a 23-4 record, won the regular-season conference title at 11-3. The Roadrunners, who are 15-2 at home this season, have already defeated Cal State L.A. twice this season by scores of 85-59 and 88-65.

The Roadrunners, who have reached the Division II playoffs two years in a row, have plenty of balance on offense with four players scoring in double figures. The leader, 6-6 center Marvin Redeemer, averages 15.6 points and 6.5 rebounds and guard Wade Green averages 14.7 points and six assists. In addition, forward Beau Redstone averages 10.7 points and nine rebounds and guard Ray Burris 12.5 points.

After producing a forgettable record of 4-48 over the previous two seasons, Cal State L.A. has rebounded this year behind the play of senior forwards LaVar Ball (6-6) and Bruce Turner (6-3). Ball, a transfer from Washington State University, has averaged 16.4 points and nine rebounds. Turner, the only other Golden Eagle scoring in double figures, averages 12.7 points and 4.7 rebounds.

The team has also been sparked by junior guard Mike Varos, a 5-8 junior who leads the squad in assists and steals.

In the other first-round game in the men’s tournament, second-seeded UC Riverside (20-7) will face third-seeded Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (19-8). First-round winners meet for the championship at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Three basketball players from Azusa Pacific University, one from the men’s team and two on the women’s squad, have been named to the All-National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics District 3 first team.

Topping the list is 6-8 center Patrick McMann, a former prep standout at Diamond Bar High. McMann, who transferred to Azusa Pacific from Northern Arizona University, averaged 15.9 points and 7.8 rebounds to lead the Cougars to an 18-12 regular-season record.

Women’s players selected to the all-district team were center Amy Walter and forward Holly Ingersoll.

It marks the second straight season that Walter has made the team. A 6-1 senior from Livermore, Walter averaged a team-leading 17.3 points and 9.5 rebounds this season.

Ingersoll, a 5-10 senior from Saugus who earned all-district honors for the third year in a row, averaged 10.5 points and was second on the team in rebounds with a 7.9 average.

The Azusa Pacific women finished the season with an 18-12 record, having lost to Cal Lutheran in the first round of the District 3 tournament Monday.

The Azusa Pacific men’s track team will be seeking its first ever title at the NAIA national indoor track and field championships Friday and Saturday at Municipal Arena in Kansas City.

The Cougars have won an unprecedented seven straight NAIA outdoor track titles but the closest they have come to an indoor championship were back-to-back second-place finishes the last two years.

Azusa Pacific will send 15 athletes to the 1990 meet including senior Ade Olukoju in the shot put and 35-pound weight throw. Olukoju, a native of Nigeria who won the discus and finished second in the shot at the British Commonwealth Games in February, is defending champion in both the shot and the weight throw.

Other top athletes for the Cougars include Ryan McCann in the 35-pound weight throw, Eddie Carbin in the 55-meter hurdles and Felix Sandy in the 400-meter run.

The Azusa Pacific women’s team will have a strong representative in high jumper Latrese Johnson, defending NAIA indoor and outdoor champion in her specialty, who won last year’s meet with a leap of 5-10.