ELLENSBURG, Wash.--Cal Poly Pomona's Brielle Minor stole a Azusa Pacific pass turned it into a fastbreak lay-up with ten seconds left to push the Broncos to a 56-54 win over the Cougars in the opening round of the NCAA tournament at Nicholson Arena.

#3 seed Cal Poly Pomona advances to the NCAA West Region semifinals with a 27-4 record, while APU's final season at the Division II level ends at 23-10. 

It was a back-and-forth game that saw the Cougars actually lead for most of the 40 minutes. The #6 seed led at the end of the first quarter 15-11 and APU would take a 21-11 lead on a Lauren Jones trey with 8:30 to go in the second quarter.

But the Broncos came back on a 20-9 run to end the half and took a 31-30 lead at intermission.

The Cougars regained their margin early in the third quarter. Jones hit another three-pointer as part of a 7-0 APU run to go up 37-31. They would lead for the rest of the quarter, but CPP would take their first lead since early in the third quarter at the start of the fourth stanza at 43-42.

The teams traded buckets from there, with Azusa holding a 54-53 margin with less than a minute to play. But Minor's steal and basket along with a free throw converted by the Broncos put the higher seeed up with eight second left. The Cougars then couldn't convert any opportunties, turning the ball over twice and missing their final shot of the game. 

Jones led the Cougars with 15 points and Rome Falcocchia had ten. Keisharna Lucas paced all players with 15 rebounds.

Azusa, long a PacWest women's basketball power, moves to Division III next season in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).