Box Score ONTARIO -- Cal State L.A.'s women's basketball team stared down another double-digit halftime deficit at the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships, only this time the Golden Eagles were unable to come all the way back.

One night after rallying from an 18-point halftime deficit to stun UC San Diego, 60-59, the Golden Eagles fell behind by 11 points at halftime and ultimately fell to No. 1 seed Cal Poly Pomona, 66-58, in a CCAA semi-final game at Citizens Business Bank Arena. Cal State L.A. (17-11) was seeking its third straight appearance in the conference championship game.

Cal State L.A. made another surge in the second half on Friday, slicing a 15-point deficit with 18 minutes to play to just two points with seven minutes to go and again with six minutes to play. The Golden Eagles trailed by just four with two minutes to go, but Cal Poly Pomona was able to hit its free throws down the stretch to extend the final margin of a game much closer than the eight-point margin would indicate.

"I thought we really battled and really fought in the second half, but I thought the turnovers were the difference coming out in the first half," Cal State L.A. head coach Janell Jones said. "We didn't go away and we hung in there and fought. We can leave here very proud of our effort."

Paige Melville had a game-high 23 points for the Golden Eagles, while Aiwekhoe Okungbowa had 17 points and five rebounds and Kaija Powell had 11 points and nine rebounds.

Ariel Marsh had 19 points to lead four Broncos in double figures. Jada Blackwell had 18 points and nine rebounds, Ashley Lovett had 12 points and 11 rebounds and J.J. Judge had 11 points and six rebounds.

Destinee La Fountain had five points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots.

The Golden Eagles weren't as sharp as they were on Thursday and committed 23 turnovers to 15 for Cal Poly Pomona (22-5).

The other team statistics were nearly even. Cal State L.A. shot 37.9 percent (22-of-58), while Cal Poly Pomona shot 35.5 percent (22-of-62). The Golden Eagles were 5-of-14 from 3-point range, while Cal Poly Pomona was 6-of-18. The Golden Eagles had a 43-41 rebounding edge.

Cal Poly Pomona had the edge at the free-throw line, making 16-of-21, while the Golden Eagles were just 9-of-14.

"Everyone was saying the huddle that we could come back like we did last night," Melville said. "It felt like we were going to come back, but we just came up short."

The Golden Eagles led throughout the early stages of the opening half, but hit a scoring drought late in the period and never could fully recover. Cal State L.A. built an 18-15 edge after an offensive rebound and basket by Powell. After Cal Poly Pomona took a 22-18 lead, Melville answered with a 3-pointer to cut the margin to 22-21 with seven minutes left in the half. The Golden Eagles, though, managed only a 3-pointer by Melville for the remainder of the half and trailed at halftime, 35-24.

Cal State L.A. fell behind by 15 points, 39-24, after a pair of free throws by Blackwell with 18:07 to go, but the Golden Eagles responded with an 11-0 run to get right back into the game. Melville hit a jumper to start the run and Okungbowa scored eight straight points before a free throw by La Fountain made it 39-35 with 10:52 to go.

A pair of free throws by Powell made it 42-39 and a 3-pointer by Melville made it 48-46 with 7:24 to go. A layup by Powell made it 50-48 and the Golden Eagles forced a turnover to get a shot at the lead, but a missed jumper was followed by a 3-pointer by Judge to make it 53-48. A jumper by Belt made it 53-50 and the Golden Eagles got another chance to even the score, but a turnover ended the possession and Cal Poly Pomona scored the next five points to extend the lead to 58-50 with 2:51 to go.

Cal State L.A. got the lead back down to four points after a layup by La Fountain and a basket by Okungbowa with 1:56 to go and had two good looks to cut the deficit further, but misfired on both. A pair of free throws by Melville made it 62-58 in the final minute, but Cal Poly Pomona hit four straight free throws to put the game away.

This time, the first-half struggles were too much to overcome.

"To have 15 turnovers in the first half against a zone was uncharacteristic for us," Jones said. "They are a very good defensive team and do a good job of deflecting passes, but I thought maybe we were in panic mode a little bit. In the second half, we did a better job."

The Golden Eagles finished the season with 17 wins, but a late-season four-game losing streak was costly in the chase for an NCAA Tournament spot.

"Toward the end of the season, we lost too many games we shouldn't have lost," Melville said. "We know what it's like when your season ends and it's not good. I know next year we're going to come back strong and make it to the NCAA (Tournament).