ERIE, Pa. – The 34-0 and number one-ranked Bentley University women's basketball team is now just one win away from its first-ever national championship after registering a 77-62 Final Four win over 18th-ranked Cal Poly Pomona Wednesday night in the NCAA Division II Championships at the Erie Insurance Center.

Coach Barbara Stevens' team will seek the title Friday night at 7 pm when they take on fifth-ranked West Texas A&M, which disposed of Nova Southeastern University by a similar margin, 80-66, in the first semifinal.

"I find myself somewhat overwhelmed by the emotion that we feel, the pride we feel in our team right now," said Stevens, the fifth winningest women's basketball coach of all-time (916 wins).

The senior frontcourt trio of three-time All-America Lauren Battista (North Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames HS), All-Northeast-10 Jacqui Brugliera (Fitchburg, Mass./Wachusett Reg. HS) and six-foot-one Caleigh Crowell (Harwich, Mass./Worcester Academy) combined to outscore the entire Bronco by one, finishing with 63 points and 27 rebounds while hitting 24 of 41 shots, including eight three-pointers.

Battista, Bentley's all-time leading scorer, showed why she is a candidate for WBCA Division II Player of the Year honors as she recorded 25 points, ten rebounds and five assists. Crowell's 21 points included 15 without missing a shot in the second half (6-6 overall with three triples), and Brugliera finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks, a steal and some stellar defense on CPP's All-Americs post Jada Blackwell (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.).

Stevens said of the six-foot Brugliera, "I think she focused a lot of her attention last night on tying to guard Amber Dvorak. Tonight we told her we felt like she could be an offensive weapon. She didn't have to worry about a 6-7 kid looming behind her when she got the ball in the post."

It wasn't quite a wire-to-wire victory, but the Falcons never trailed after a Battista jumper 3:11 into the contest made it a 7-6 game, maintaining a single-digit margin for most of the way.

That basket ignited a 14-4 Bentley spurt, creating a 19-10 advantage after eight minutes. Following the Battista hoop, Brugliera got it done at both ends, taking a charge (the first of three for Bentley in the first half) and finishing a fast-break with a lay-up.

The run also included Battista scoring after senior point guard Christiana Bakolas (Manchester, N.H./Central HS) found her open inside, a Battista put-back and three-pointers from opposite sides of the court from Crowell and Brugliera.

After CPP bounced back with seven straight during a stretch in which the Falcons turned cold, Bentley closed out the opening half with a 10-3 run over the final eight minutes. Battista had seven of the ten, both Brugliera and Crowell drew offensive fouls and the Bentley defense limited the Broncos to one basket in 12 attempts.

That sent the Falcons to the halftime locker room on the positive side of a 29-20 score following a 20-minute stretch in which they came up with four steals and a block, had a plus-nine rebounding margin and allowed only four offensive boards on 20 missed shots.

Cal Poly Pomona started strong in the second half, a 10-3 burst over the first 2:01 drawing the Californians within two. Blackwell had half the points but also picked up her third after her team drew within a deuce at 32-30.

A 10-0 Bentley explosion in a span of less than two minutes opened the game up, extending a three-point advantage to 54-41 with 8:22 to play. Bakolas hit an open Crowell underneath for two and fed Battista on a fast-break lay-up, freshman forward Jen Gemma (Milton, Mass./Fontbonne Academy) hit a pair from the line, Brugliera added a second-chance basket and Crowell scored on a lay-up after coming up with a steal in the backcourt.

The Broncos cut it to eight several times before Crowell's fourth three-ball of the night made it a 64-53 game with 1:59 left. Senior All-America Courtney Finn (Winthrop, Mass./Winthrop HS), coming off a career-best 30 in Bentley's quarterfinal win over Drury University, tallied her first points with a pair of free throws with 1:32 on the clock, making it a 13-point spread. A parade to the line followed with the Falcons making 10 of 14 free throws over the final 81 seconds to lock up its first trip to the national championship game in 24 years.

Finn finished with six points, all at the line, and moved into tenth on Bentley's all-time scoring list with 1,576 points. Bakolas delivered six assists and helped the Falcons win the rebounding game, 41-36, with five.

Blackwell finished with 22 points and six rebounds before fouling out in the final minute, but was just four of nine inside the arc for the 26-7 Broncos.

Bentley, which set a school record for wins in a season, shot 52 percent in the second half and finished at .446 overall with nine triples in 28 attempts. CPP was limited to only .349 and was only 15 of 45 on its two-point attempts.

West Texas A&M won comfortably over tenth-ranked Nova Southeastern despite going the final ten minutes without a field goal. Their last one of the evening came midway through the second half and made it a 68-42 contest at the time. The Sharks closed to within ten with 90 seconds to play, but it was much too little, too late.

The Lady Buffs were powered by five-eleven post Chontiquah White, who muscled her way to 26 points and 17 rebounds.

Battista, when asked about the upcoming title contest, said "Obviously, Friday is my last game in a Bentley uniform. When I step on the floor I just want to give everything I have. It's the attitude I'll take."

Crowell added ""It's hard to believe that we're even here. At the beginning of the year that was our goal – the national championship. We took one game at a time and each game was a championship game to us."