Box Score

POMONA -- Cal State L.A.'s women's basketball team made sure its first California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament game since 1998 was a memorable one.

The Golden Eagles stormed back from an 18-point deficit with 17 minutes to play and beat Cal Poly Pomona, 80-78, Tuesday night in Kellogg  Gym. Cal State L.A. (17-10) got the game-winning basket on a driving layup by Maryum Jenkins with two seconds remaining.

The No. 6 seed Golden Eagles now advance to the tournament semi-finals Friday at UC San Diego after beating the No. 3 seed Broncos (19-8) for the second time in three tries this season.

Tessondra Williams scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead four Golden Eagles in double figures. Lacy Ramon had a strong game with 16 points and 12 rebounds, Jazzi Johnson had 14 points and Erika Ruiz came off the bench to contribute 14 big points. Lacey Gibbons added nine points, including a big 3-pointer late in the game.

Megan Ford led Cal Poly Pomona with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Charlene Popoff had 19 points and eight rebounds, while Ariel Marsh had 11 points.

Cal State L.A., which was out-rebounded by a 45-22 margin in last week's 73-56 loss to Cal Poly Pomona in Pomona, was much better on the boards Tuesday and was out-rebounded only 39-35. The Golden Eagles shot 47.7 percent (31-of-65) and limited Cal Poly Pomona to just 43.4 percent (23-of-53). Cal State L.A. was 12-of-22 from the free-throw line, while Cal Poly Pomona was 25-of-30.

Cal State L.A. also stepped up defensively, holding Cal Poly Pomona without a basket over the final 5:45 of the game.

The Golden Eagles trailed at halftime, 48-38, and then fell behind by 18 points, 58-40, with 17:04 remaining. Cal State L.A. steadily chipped away at the lead and eventually took the lead for the first time in the second half in the final minute.

The Golden Eagles still trailed by 13 points with 10 minutes left, but baskets by Ramon and Williams reduced the deficit to single digits. The comeback really gathered steam when a 3-pointer by Ruiz made it 67-62 with six minutes to go. A 3-pointer by Gibbons made it 71-69 with four minutes remaining and the game was a battle the rest of the way.

A Johnson layup and two free throws by Ramon tied it at 73-73 with 2:32 to go and layups by Ruiz and Jenkins put the Golden Eagles ahead, 78-77, with 33 seconds to go. Cal Poly Pomona tied it on a free throw by Popoff with 16 seconds to go before Jenkins made her game-winning drive to the basket.

Cal State L.A., which is making its first tournament appearance since the conference brought the tourney back in an expanded format in 2008, will play in a semi-final on Friday at UC San Diego.