The win gave the top-seeded Tigers (25-6) a berth in the tournament's championship game tomorrow at 1 p.m. They will meet second-seeded Cal Poly, who defeated UC Santa Barbara, 62-43, in the day's other semifinal showdown. CSUF (10-22) saw their season come to a close with the loss.

McKenzie led all scorers with 25 points as she connected on 5-of-7 shots from beyond the arc. She made and took only one three-pointer in the second half, which happened to be the game-winner. Senior Kendall Rodriguez was the only other Pacific player in double figures with 14 points.

Sophomore Kendall Kenyon led the Tigers with 10 rebounds while Rodriguez grabbed seven boards. Junior Gena Johnson added nine points and six rebounds.

Pacific led by three, 47-44, after McKenzie made one of two free throws with 3:37 left to play. Kathleen Iwuoha brought the Titans to within one, 47-46, on a baseline jumper one minute later, but Johnson answered with a lay-up on the Tigers' next possession. After a CSUF turnover, junior Sam Pettinger's running jumper was off the mark, but Kenyon corralled the missed shot and gave Pacific another possession with 1:25 on the clock.

With 55 seconds left, McKenzie drove right and got all the way to the basket, drawing a foul in the process. She calmly drained both free throws to give the Tigers a five-point lead, 51-46. Cal State Fullerton would get a pair of three-point shots off on its next trip down the court before Annie Park made a jumper from the right elbow with 29 seconds on the clock, prompting the Titans to take their last timeout.

On the ensuing inbounds play, there was a scramble that saw Pettinger lose the ball as Tailer Butler came up with the steal for the Titans. Mya Olivier then hit a straightaway trey to tie the game at 51-51 with 16 seconds left. Without using their last time out, the Tigers advanced the ball as Johnson found McKenzie on the wing. McKenzie took one dribble to her left as Johnson got her open with a screen, and the space proved to be enough as McKenzie coolly drained a deep three with just seven ticks left.

Instead of looking for a potential game-tying three-pointer, Cal State Fullerton's Chante Miles inexplicably drove into the paint and took a running jumper that rimmed out as time expired.

Iwuoha finished with a double double for the Titans, notching 15 points and 13 rebounds. Miles chipped in 10 points while Olivier added eight points and seven boards.

Pacific twice led by as many as 10 points in the first half, but CSUF scored 14 of the final 22 points in the half as the Tigers led by just four, 25-21, at the break.

The Tigers were unable to pull away from the Titans in the second half despite a number of opportunities. Pacific led by five, 36-31, with 13:23 on the clock, and by seven, 46-39, at the 5:40 mark, only to see both leads wiped away.

Neither team shot well from the field as Cal State Fullerton made 35-percent of its shots while Pacific shot 32-percent from the field. The Tigers connected on 47-percent of its three-point tries, however, while the Titans made just two of their 13 three-point attempts, good for 15-percent.

Pacific outrebounded Cal State Fullerton by one, 38-37, but grabbed three fewer offensive rebounds, 23-20, as the Titans had 13 second-chance points to the Tigers' seven. Pacific committed 19 turnovers, 10 coming in the first half, while CSUF gave the ball away 18 times.

Tomorrow's game marks the fifth appearance for Pacific in the Big West Tournament's championship game. The game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Prime Ticket.

Cal Poly Advances to Championship Game With, 62-43, Win Over UCSB

BOX SCORE

Junior Molly Schlemer lived up to her Big West Conference Player of the Year when she scored 20 second half points to lead the Cal Poly women’s basketball team to a 62-43 win over UC Santa Barbara, Friday afternoon at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

With the win, Cal Poly advances to the Big West Conference Tournament Championship game and will face the regular-season champion, Pacific, at 1pm. The game will be televised on Fox Prime Ticket.

Cal Poly improves to 20-10 overall, the team’s second most wins at the Division I level, while UCSB concludes the season, 16-16. For the Mustangs it was the team’s fifth-straight win over Gauchos.

Schlemer scored a game-high 26 points when she made 10 of 23 shots from the floor and corralled nine rebounds while sinking six of seven from the line. Junior Jonae Ervin and sophomore Ariana Elegado, each scored eight points with senior Caroline Reeves adding six points. Senior Kayla Griffin tied Schlemer with a team-high nine rebounds.

Nicole Nesbit and Angelei Aguirre led UCSB with 11 and 10 points respectively. Kristen Tilleman had 10 rebounds to lead all players.

Cal Poly shot 43.8 percent from the field and made four of 12 shots from long range while UCSB shot 34.7 percent from the floor and made two of four from beyond the arc.

The Mustangs went to the line 19 times and made 16 while UCSB made seven of eight.  The Gauchos held a two rebound advantage, 32-30, but the Mustangs turned the ball over six fewer times (17-11).

Cal Poly has played in two championship games while Pacific has played in four with neither team winning.  Cal Poly advanced to the championship game in 2010-11 when the team fell to UC Davis and 2008-09 when the lost to UCSB.

The Mustangs opened the game missing their first eight shots from the floor, but rebounded to make nine of the next 16 shots, good for 38 percent from the floor in the first half.

Cal Poly trailed by as many as six, 8-2, with 12:16 on the clock when the Mustangs went on a 10-2 run to take a 10-9 lead on a three by Griffin with 10:24 on the clock. The Mustangs took the lead for good at 7:48 when Ervin hit a jumper for a 16-15 lead.

The Mustangs built the lead to five (22-17) on a jumper by Nikol Allison with 1:11 left and settled for a 22-19 lead at the break.

Cal Poly opened the second half on a 13-2 run to build a 14 point lead on a pair of free throws by Schlemer with 12:19 left in the game and made it a 16 point game on a Allison jumper at 9:04.

The Mustangs kept the pressure on, never letting UCSB within 11 the rest of the game. Cal Poly held its largest lead of the game as the team made its free throws down the stretch and a 62-43 win.