Isa Conde poured it on for a season-high 26 points for Humboldt State en route to their 69-53 win against the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos. The win sent the team to the California Collegiate Athletic Association championship game, which was on Saturday in Pomona.
“This is a great win for our program, and I am really proud of the girls,” HSU head coach Michelle Bento-Jackson said. “We had great balance on offense. We made it a priority tonight to take away the inside options from Pomona and force them to shoot from [the outside].”
Conde started off the game scorching, as she scored 17 points in the first half. However, she was just one of four Lady Jacks who finished with double-digit points. She was joined by teammates Tyla and Tyra Turner, along with Mikaela Shannon, who had 13 points off the bench.
“We really did a good job of sharing the ball and getting the best shot we can,” Tyra said. “We played smart and we were aware of our fouls. We made smart decisions on offense and defense.”
The game was quite even heading into halftime, with the Jacks leading 34-29. However, they took over in the third, as they went on a 20-4 run at one point.
“I thought we did a terrific job of sharing the ball,” Bento-Jackson said. “We really wanted to stretch out their defense, and when you see balance in the scoring, it’s because we were making the extra pass. We were being aggressive off the dribble and we got things going on the offensive end.”
The Lady Jacks held the Broncos to 22.2% shooting in the second half as well as forcing 15 turnovers and taking six charges.
The Lady Jacks advanced to their first conference tournament title game since the 2009-10 season.
