The Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros women’s basketball team has punched their ticket to the NCAA Quarterfinals after defeating the Central Washington Wildcats 70-47.
“This was the goal that they set and what we’ve said all year is as a coach, my job is to try to prepare them for these opportunities and it’s their job to go execute it,” said Toros head coach John Bonner. “They’ve had this kind of marked for a long time, so I’m just happy to see their goals come to fruition.”
Junior guard Nala Williams led the Toros with 19 points, six assists, and six steals. Freshman guard Cristina Jones made 11 rebounds.
Senior guard Sunny Huerta led the Wildcats with 20 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
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The win makes the Toros women’s basketball team the 2025 Western Regional Champions. This is their second regional title in the past three years.
For the Toros, creating strong bonds among teammates was a top priority from the start of the season.
“I think we put the work in to be able to build our team chemistry from jump to be able to get along with each other, having fun with each other,” said senior forward Asia Jordan. “I think we built that from the ground up.”
The Wildcats packed the paint on defense forcing the Toros to take long-distance shots. Dominguez Hills held Central Washington to eight points in the first quarter.
The Toros remained dominant for the rest of the matchup, leading by as much as 33 points.
“We had conversations at the beginning of the year about this and other things like that,” Williams said. “I feel like we kind of manifested this and we’re just gonna continue to work hard with our other goals.”
The sixth-seeded Central Washington upset the third-seeded Point Loma 74-53 in the first round. They then downed the seven-seeded Chico State 79-73.
“When we were coming to the regional, I feel like all of us were super excited,” said Wildcats senior guard Malia Smith. “Obviously, not every team gets this opportunity and I think we had to take it and run with it and I feel like we did a good job at that.”
Dominguez Hills will head to Pittsburg to compete against the Coker University Cobras of South Carolina on March 24 at 9:00A.M. on ESPN+.
