WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

MEDIA NOTES

Nov. 27, 2001

 

 

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

2001-02 National Ranking: 1 (USA Today/ESPN)

 

A Trip To Fargo: Cal Poly Pomona’s women’s basketball team will hit the road this week and compete in the North Dakota State Tournament in Fargo, North Dakota. The Broncos will face the University of West Florida at 5:30 p.m. Friday. North Dakota State and Colorado Mines will meet in the later game Friday. The losers will then face each other Saturday at 5:30 p.m. with the winners meeting at 7:30 p.m. North Dakota State is ranked eighth in the nation in the USA Today/ESPN preseason coaches’ poll. North Dakota State and the University of West Florida are both 3-1, while Colorado Mines is 5-0.

 

History In The Making: Although the University of West Florida and Colorado Mines will have something to say about it, the possibility of a Cal Poly Pomona-North Dakota State matchup this weekend probably has women’s basketball fans excited. North Dakota State (5) and Cal Poly Pomona (4) rank 1-2 in NCAA Division II national championships won and in NCAA Tournament victories (North Dakota State has 45 victories, Cal Poly Pomona has 41). The Bison captured all five titles in the 1990s, including four in a row from 1993-97. The Broncos won three titles in the 1980s before winning their fourth last season. North Dakota State has advanced to the national title game a record eight times, while Cal Poly Pomona has made it to the title game seven times. In head-to-head meetings, Cal Poly Pomona holds a 3-1 edge. The Broncos won 70-63 to win the NCAA championship in Springfield, Mass. in 1986. In 1987, the Broncos defeated North Dakota State, 77-67, in a national quarterfinal game at Cal Poly Pomona. The Broncos also posted a 67-64 win in a national quarterfinal game at Cal Poly Pomona in 1990. North Dakota State beat the Broncos, 91-55, in a national quarterfinal game in Fargo, N.D., in 1993, in the last meeting between the two programs. Cal Poly Pomona, meanwhile, has never played the University of West Florida nor Colorado Mines.

 

The Roof (And The Banner) Were Raised: The Broncos had a chance to celebrate their 2001 NCAA Division II championship on Saturday before their home and season opener against Azusa Pacific. The roster from the championship team was introduced and a video highlighting the championship run was shown on big screens. The banner was then lifted to join the Broncos’ three other national championship banners above the court. The Broncos then went out and knocked off Azusa Pacific, 99-93. Lauri McIntosh (Sr., Diamond Bar, Diamond Bar HS) had 28 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Broncos, while Burgundie Porter (Sr., San Dimas, San Dimas HS) contributed 21 points. Cal Poly Pomona also got 18 points and seven rebounds from Aprile Powell (So., Santa Ana, Century HS) in what turned out to be her last action for awhile. Powell underwent surgery Tuesday afternoon to repair a torn lateral meniscus in her right knee and will be sidelined for up to six weeks. Anna James (Jr., Orangevale, Casa Robles HS) added 14 points and six assists for Cal Poly Pomona. The Broncos had leads as large as 23 points before a flurry of late turnovers made the final margin of victory much smaller.

 

We’re No. 1: Cal Poly Pomona finds itself atop of early preseason polls. The Broncos are the No. 1 team in the nation in the USA Today/ESPN Preseason Coaches’ Poll after collecting 21 of 24 first-place votes. North Dakota, the team the Broncos beat to win the national title last season, is ranked No. 2. The Broncos are also an overwhelming choice to win their 18th CCAA crown. The Broncos collected 11 first-place votes to easily outdistance No. 2 UC Davis.

 

The Thomas Guide: Paul Thomas returns for his eighth season as Cal Poly Pomona’s head coach. He has a record of 141-59 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.

 

Three Tremendous Years … And Counting: The last three-plus seasons have been especially impressive for the Broncos. After the win over Azusa Pacific on Saturday, Cal Poly Pomona is 77-12 during that time span, including a remarkable 55-7 mark in the CCAA. Three current seniors have played in all 89 games over the past three seasons. Lauri McIntosh (Sr., Diamond Bar, Diamond Bar HS), Burgundie Porter (Sr., San Dimas, San Dimas HS) and Kim Kennedy (Sr., Walnut Creek, Carondelet HS) have been a vital part of the Broncos’ success during their time at Cal Poly Pomona. McIntosh has established herself as one of the premier forwards in the country and is already the ninth-highest scorer in Cal Poly Pomona history. Porter has displayed a knack for big-game heroics as she demonstrated with her game-winning shot in the final second against Seattle Pacific in the regional final. Kennedy has been a steady fixture on the Cal Poly Pomona team and was the one who got the ball to Porter for her famous shot.

 

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 Tuesday afternoon and is expected to be out for four-to-six weeks. Powell was able to play in the season opener on Saturday night 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).

 

A Kodak Moment: 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 led the Broncos in the win over Azusa Pacific with 28 points and 16 rebounds. The 16 rebounds equaled a career high. McIntosh is already the ninth-highest scorer in Cal Poly Pomona history with 1512 points and is just five points behind Mildred Conston (1991-94) for eighth place and 19 points behind Cathy Gooden (1985-89) for seventh place.

 

A Nose For A Title: Anna James is not only the most prolific 3-point shooter in Cal Poly Pomona history after just two seasons with the program. She has also shown she has a nose for the ball. James nearly broke her nose in a collision at the end of regulation in the Broncos’ 87-80 overtime win over North Dakota in the NCAA Championship game, but never missed a beat. James nailed a clutch 3-pointer to open the overtime period to give the Broncos a lead they never relinquished. James leads the Broncos in career 3-pointers with 130. She didn’t add to her 3-point total against Azusa Pacific, but she did contribute 14 points and a team-high six assists.

 

Who’s Back: The Broncos have nine players returning from last year’s championship team, including four starters. The one loss from the starting lineup, though, will be a big one. Talented point guard LaTasha Burnett, who had a sensational senior season for the program, will have to be replaced.

 

Who’s New: The Broncos welcome six newcomers to the program, including three who played high school basketball locally. Brandi Fletcher (Diamond Ranch HS), Christy Gardner (Ontario HS) and Britt Sumida (Ayala HS) are all 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.

 

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.

 

Coach’s Corner: (About the injury to Aprile Powell): “You have to play with what you’re dealt. Kiarra Drummond, Heather Reeder and Salma Rasheed will be absolutely key to our success. We know what we can get from Lauri McIntosh, Burgundie Porter and Anna James. Those are our mainstays. It’s everybody else that we don’t know about yet. We had an above-average practice (Monday). I don’t think it was anything to write home about, but we have seen some things we have to work on and we spent a lot of time on defense. We have to stop people. We have to challenge some shots.”

(About the opening win over Azusa Pacific): “I think it was a very good opening game. If you put aside some of the obvious flaws, I really do feel we got several of our goals accomplished. Obviously, one of the goals was to see where we were going to get our scoring from and if we are capable of playing a pretty up-tempo game. I think we were also pretty successful at putting different people in different situations. I think we got a fairly decent idea of how certain people will respond in certain situations.”

(About the early-season trip to North Dakota): “It was scheduled because I’m a big believer in playing the toughest schedule possible. We ended last season as the No. 1 team in the country and we are No. 1 to start this season and the No. 1 team should play a tough schedule. They’ve been wanting us to go back there for years and it just so happened to work out this year.”

                                                                                    -- Head Coach Paul Thomas