CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA

Bronco Sports News

For Immediate Release

Dec. 18, 2001

Contact: Paul Helms

(909) 869-2812

 

 

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

MEDIA NOTES

 

2001-02 CPP Record: 6-1. CCAA Record: 4-0

2001-02 National Ranking: 3 (USA Today/ESPN)

 

Home For The Holidays: Cal Poly Pomona’s women’s basketball team will have a little time off following an impressive start to its CCAA schedule. The Broncos, after lopsided wins over Cal State L.A. and Cal State Dominguez Hills this past weekend, will be off until hosting the CCAA/GNAC Classic on Dec. 28-29 in Kellogg Gym. The Broncos will face Seattle Pacific at 8 p.m. Dec. 28 in a rematch between the NCAA Division II West Region finalists and then meet Western Washington at 8 p.m. Dec. 29 in a rematch of last season’s regional semi-final battle. Cal State L.A. is the other squad entered in the tourney. Three of the top 20 teams in the nation will be involved in the tourney: #3 Cal Poly Pomona, #8 Seattle Pacific and #18 Western Washington.

 

Head To Head: Cal Poly Pomona holds a 5-2 edge over Western Washington, although the Vikings have won two of the last three meetings. Western Washington beat the Broncos in the West Regional final in 2000 and advanced to the Final Four. Cal Poly Pomona returned the favor last year in the semis. Earlier that season, the Broncos lost at Western Washington. Cal Poly Pomona is 1-2 against Seattle Pacific, but the “1” was the 63-62 victory on March 10, 2001 that sent the Broncos to the Elite Eight.

 

About Last Week: The Broncos posted a pair of lopsided CCAA wins last weekend in Kellogg Gym. First, Cal Poly Pomona ran past Cal State L.A., 99-66, on Friday. Lauri McIntosh (Sr., Diamond Bar, Diamond Bar HS) tied a school and conference record by making all 11 of her field-goal attempts. Two other Cal Poly Pomona players – Cathy Gooden (in 1988) and LaTasha Burnett (2001) – share the record. McIntosh finished with 26 points despite playing only 24 minutes because of foul trouble. All five Cal Poly Pomona starters reached double figures in the game. Anna James (Jr., Orangevale, Casa Robles HS) had 18 points, Leah Whatley (Sr., Suisan, Tarteton State) had 12 points, Burgundie Porter (Sr., San Dimas, San Dimas HS) had 11 points and Margot Richards (Sr., Orangevale, Erskine College), in her first start of the season, had 10 points. The following night, the Broncos were held to a season-low 70 points, but still had enough firepower to record a 70-53 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills. McIntosh led the way with 18 points, while Whatley recorded a season-high 17 points and hit four 3-pointers. Porter had nine points, nine rebounds and seven steals in the win.

 

Cream Of The Crop: The Broncos have dominated the CCAA in the past two-plus seasons. Cal Poly Pomona was 20-2 in conference last year and 19-1 two years ago, which adds up to a 39-3 conference record. The 4-0 start gives the Broncos a 43-3 record in their last 46 conference games. That mark is the best in the conference in both men’s and women’s basketball. The next best record is Cal State San Bernardino’s men’s program, which is 41-7. The Broncos won the 1999-2000 crown by a whopping five games over UC Davis and were three games better than Cal State Bakersfield last year. Over the past three-plus seasons, since the CCAA was expanded, the Broncos are a conference-best 57-7.

 

We’re No. 1 (And No. 3): Cal Poly Pomona is the overwhelming choice to win their 18th CCAA crown. In voting done by the conference coaches, the Broncos collected 11 first-place votes to easily outdistance No. 2 UC Davis. The Broncos were also the No. 1 team in the USA Today/ESPN Preseason Coaches’ Poll and were ranked fourth in the most recent rankings. The first regional rankings of the season will be released Wednesday.

 

The Thomas Guide: Paul Thomas returns for his eighth season as Cal Poly Pomona’s head coach. He has a current record of 146-60 at Cal Poly Pomona. Thomas has been named CCAA Coach of the Year three times and guided the Broncos into the postseason in five straight seasons. The Broncos have also won four CCAA titles during the Thomas years, including two straight, three in the past four years and four in the past five years.

 

Three Tremendous Years … And Counting: The last three-plus seasons have been especially impressive for the Broncos. After the sweep over Cal State L.A. and Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal Poly Pomona is now 82-13 during that time span, including a remarkable 59-7 mark in the CCAA. Two current senior starters have played in all 95 games over the past three seasons. Lauri McIntosh (Sr., Diamond Bar, Diamond Bar HS), and Burgundie Porter (Sr., San Dimas, San Dimas HS) have been a vital part of the Broncos’ success during their time at Cal Poly Pomona.

 

Missing Aprile: The Broncos have already suffered a major loss to injury when All-American center and Player of the Year candidate Aprile Powell (So., Santa Ana, Century HS) suffered a torn lateral meniscus in her right knee. Powell underwent surgery on Nov. 27 and is expected to be out for four-to-six weeks. Powell was able to play in the season opener and contributed 18 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes in the 99-93 win over Azusa Pacific. Powell completed one of the best freshman seasons in the program’s storied history last year. She was a Kodak All-American, the Most Outstanding Player in both the NCAA West Regional and Elite Eight tournaments and she led the Broncos in scoring (16.8 points per game) and rebounding (10.4 per game).

 

McIntosh Is Marvelous: Lauri McIntosh (Sr., Diamond Bar, Diamond Bar HS), who was a Kodak All-American as a sophomore in 2000, is off to a tremendous start in the 2001-02 season. McIntosh broke the school single-game scoring record on Dec. 9 when she poured in 46 points against Cal State Bakersfield. The old record of 44 was set by Niki Bracken in 1988. McIntosh also tied Bracken’s school record for most field goals in a game with 18. The 46 points also tied a CCAA record. McIntosh followed that up in her next game by tying a school and conference record after making all 11 of her field-goal attempts in the win over Cal State L.A. McIntosh leads the CCAA in scoring with 26.3 points per game and is third in rebounding (9.6 per game). She also leads the conference with a 65.5 percent field-goal percentage. She equaled a career high with 16 rebounds in the season-opening win against Azusa Pacific. McIntosh is quickly moving up the Cal Poly Pomona career scoring list. After starting the season ninth on the list, McIntosh is now fifth with 1,668 points. Next up is Robbie Beyer (1976-80), who is fourth with 1,695.

 

Long-Distance Shooting: Anna James (Jr., Orangevale, Casa Robles HS) is already the most prolific 3-point shooter in Cal Poly Pomona history and she keeps adding to her total. She leads the team this season with 15, which brings her career total to 145. She equaled a season high with four 3-pointers on Friday against Cal State L.A. James also had four 3-pointers against West Florida and three against North Dakota State. She had two each in games against Cal State Stanislaus and Cal State Bakersfield. James has the best single-season total with 71 in 2000-01. James also nailed a clutch 3-pointer to open the overtime period in the Broncos’ 87-80 victory over North Dakota in the NCAA Division II championship game last season. James had been one of the most consistent scorers this season for the Broncos, reaching double figures in their first six games before being held to two points on Saturday against Cal State Dominguez Hills.

 

Who’s New: The Broncos have welcomed five newcomers to the program, including two who played high school basketball locally. Christy Gardner (Ontario HS) and Britt Sumida (Ayala HS) are incoming freshmen to the Cal Poly Pomona program. Transfers Kiarra Drummond (F, Los Angeles, Univ. of Texas El Paso), Heather Reeder (G, Wenatche, Wa., University of Portland) and Leah Whatley (G, Suisun, Tarleton State) are also new to the program. A sixth player, Brandi Fletcher (Fr., Pomona, Diamond Ranch HS), is expected to redshirt this season.

 

Program History: The Broncos’ fourth national championship in 2000-01 just added to the program’s rich women’s basketball history. Cal Poly Pomona has also reached the national title game seven times, has four national Player of the Year winners (Jackie White, 1983; Vickie Mitchell, 1986; Debra Larsen, 1987 and Cathy Gooden, 1989), four Most Outstanding Players in the NCAA Tournament (Jackie White, 1982; Vickie Mitchell, 1985; Debra Larsen, 1986; Aprile Powell, 2001), 29 All-American awards earned by 19 different players, 17 NCAA postseason appearances, 17 CCAA titles, 9 CCAA Player of the Year awards and 41 postseason victories.

 

A Little Of This, A Little Of That: Burgundie Porter continues to shine for the Broncos, both offensively and defensively. Porter set a new career high against Cal State Dominguez Hills with seven steals. She also had nine points and nine rebounds in the game. Porter is fourth on the team in scoring (11.9 points per game) and she leads the team in steals (25, 3.6 per game) and assists (31, 4.4 per game). … The Broncos have gotten a big boost from Margot Richards (Sr., Orangevale, Erskine College), who has scored in double figures in three of Cal Poly Pomona’s first four conference games. Richards got the first start of her Cal Poly Pomona career last Friday against Cal State L.A. and responded with 10 points, three rebounds and two assists. In seven games this season, Cal Poly Pomona has outrebounded each opponent and has a total edge of 326-248. … Lauri McIntosh leads the team with 67 rebounds. … Cal Poly Pomona has forced 170 turnovers in its first five games and made 87 steals. Burgundie Porter leads with 25 steals.

 

Coach’s Corner: “(About last weekend): “The big push was to improve from one night to the next defensively and I think we did a better job than we had done in the previous four games. We’re making strides toward getting some of our defensive assignments shored up. I felt as though our game with Dominguez Hills was bound to happen. We can’t shoot the ball at such a high clip every night. Fortunately, we were able to rebound the ball O.K. and we came out of this weekend with two quality wins.”

 

“Making baskets hides a lot of deficiencies you may have as a team. That’s what was happening to this team. When you don’t make baskets at a high percentage, all those deficiencies get enhanced. That’s pretty much what happened on Saturday. After looking at the film, we had four bad shots per game. I’ll probably accept that.”

 

(About the break): “We’re going to get back to the fundamentals. That’s what we’ll concentrate on for the next four or five days in practice. We’ll work on those little details that add up to make a team better.”

 

(About the upcoming tournament): “I know our team is looking forward to that weekend’s games. It’s a rematch on Friday between the West Regional finalists and a rematch Saturday night between the semi-finalists. I’m excited and I know our team will be excited. They’ll get a few days off and then hopefully be refreshed to play at a high level as we head toward March.”

 

-- Head Coach Paul Thomas