SPORTSCOPE

Pomona Women to Travel to Riverside The Cal Poly Pomona women’s basketball team is in a familiar position entering the second half of California Collegiate Athletic Assn. play.

Since women’s basketball became a CCAA sport, the Broncos have won or shared all nine conference titles. Pomona, ranked 16th in NCAA Division II, has a two-game lead in the conference race at 5-0. The Broncos are 14-7 overall going into Friday’s game against UC Riverside at Riverside Community College.

Riverside is tied for second with Cal State Los Angeles in the CCAA race at 3-2. Riverside is 11-11 overall and lost to Pomona, 65-61, Jan. 19 in Pomona.

After struggling before the start of the conference season, the Broncos have flourished in recent games behind the play of forward Stephanie Coons and guard Debbie Wagner.

Coons, a former standout at Wilson High, is the conference scoring leader at 16.2 points and leads the team in rebounding with a 7.4 average. Wagner, a transfer from Northern Arizona, earned CCAA player-of-the-week honors with 22 points, 16 assists and 15 steals in Pomona’s victories over Cal State L.A. and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo last week.

The Broncos also start junior Leslie Ellis at center, senior Kelly Connelly at forward and freshman Nicole Sanders at guard. The team’s second-leading scorer has been reserve forward Tami Chick, who averages 9.6 points.

Riverside has been led by All- CCAA center Becky Geeson, who averages 15.5 points and 9.2 rebounds, and forward Rachel Rosario at 10.2 points and 9.2 rebounds.

The Cal Poly Pomona men’s basketball team will try to stay within striking distance of first place in the CCAA when it plays host to perennial power Cal State Bakersfield at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Kellogg Gym.

The Broncos, 12-10 overall and tied for third in the conference with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at 4-3, entered last week in first place, but their title hopes suffered a setback with two losses to UC Riverside. Pomona lost at Riverside, 94-88, and at Pomona, 92-71.

Bakersfield finished second in the NCAA Division II last season. The Roadrunners (15-6 overall, 4-2 in league play) are in second place in the CCAA.

Pomona will be trying for its first victory over the Roadrunners since the final game of the 1987-88 season.

The Broncos have been sparked by the play of senior forward Terry Ross, who averages a conference-leading 23.8 points and a team-high of 9.3 rebounds. With 998 points in two seasons at Pomona, Ross needs 20 points to pass Don Johnson for third on the school’s all-time scoring list.

After suffering its first two losses in CCAA play last week, the Cal State Los Angeles women’s basketball team will try to rebound against Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday and Chapman on Saturday.

The Golden Eagles (11-12, 3-2), tied for second with UC Riverside in the CCAA, visit Dominguez Hills at 5:45 p.m. Friday and play host to Chapman at 5:45 Saturday. Dominguez Hills is 14-7 and 1-4 and Chapman is 9-12 and 1-4.

In the first round of conference play in January, Cal State L.A. defeated Dominguez Hills, 72-51, and Chapman, 68-64.

The Golden Eagles lost to Riverside, 82-71, and Cal Poly Pomona, 83-58, last week.