Pomona Women Play Barry in West Regional

The Cal Poly Pomona women’s basketball team will compete in the NCAA Division II West Regional Friday and Saturday at Cal State Stanislaus in Turlock.

The top-seeded Broncos, who reached the Division II tournament for the 10th season in a row after winning the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. postseason tournament last week, will play Barry College of Miami in the first round of the four-team tournament at 9 p.m. Friday.

Pomona is 20-8 and ranked No. 15 in Division II. Barry, making its first postseason appearance in only its third season of women’s basketball, is ranked No. 20 with a 26-3 record. The other first-round game Friday matches Stanislaus (21-7) against 19th-ranked UC Davis (25-4). The winners meet for the regional title Saturday.

Barry is one of the highest-scoring teams in Division II, averaging 91.7 points. The Buccaneers are led by the front-line tandem of seniors Maria Teal and Aletrice Thompkins.

Teal, a 6-0 transfer from West ern Kentucky, averages 22.1 points and 14 rebounds. The 6-1 Thompkins averages 16.2 points. Another leader for the Buccaneers is point guard Katrina Lofton, who averages 17 points.

Pomona will counter with a more deliberate offense. Senior forward Stephanie Coons, who was selected CCAA player of the year last week, averages 16.2 points and 7.2 rebounds.

However, Coons missed the conference tournament with muscle spasms in her back and may not be at full strength for the regional. In her absence, the Broncos defeated UC Riverside and Cal State Los Angeles to win the conference tournament.

After a difficult 57-55 victory over Riverside in the first round of the tournament, Pomona crushed Cal State L.A., 76-49, in the title game behind the play of guards Debbie Wagner and Serenda Valdez and center Leslie Ellis. Wagner was named most valuable player of the conference tournament and Valdez and Ellis were named to the all-tournament team.

Cal Poly Pomona senior forward Terry Ross and Coach Dave Bollwinkel were honored by the CCAA after the Broncos’ first winning season since 1985-86.

Ross, the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,156 points in two seasons, was named CCAA player of the year and Bollwinkel, who guided the Broncos to a 15-14 record and second place in the CCAA postseason tournament last week, was chosen coach of the year.

A repeat selection to the All-CCAA squad, Ross was also selected to the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches All-West Region team for the second season in a row. He was second in conference scoring at 23.4 and first in rebounds with at 9.3.

In addition, junior guard Andre Harrell made the All-CCAA second team. The 6-1 Harrell averaged 13.6 points in conference play and 11 overall.

Players from 29 high schools will be honored at the National Football Foundation Pasadena/San Gabriel Valley Chapter’s annual Scholar-Athlete Banquet at 6 p.m. Monday at the Pasadena Hilton.

Among the football players to be honored are three All-San Gabriel Valley selections: running back Tyrone Edwards of Nogales, defensive back Tim Flynn of Glendora and wide receiver Chang Weisberg of Rosemead.

The guest speaker will be Jacob Burney, defensive line coach at UCLA and a former NFL players with the Detroit Lions.

Tickets are $35. Information and reservations: Linda Sells at (818) 792-0191 or (818) 447-7155.