THE COLLEGES : Pomona Proves Again That It Owns Northridge

Leslie Milke, Cal State Northridge women’s basketball coach, says she relishes playing Cal Poly Pomona. One wonders why after the Broncos hammered the Lady Matadors, 79-47, in the championship game of the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament at Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday.

It was Pomona’s fourth win over Northridge this season and improved the Broncos’ record against the Lady Matadors to an astounding 36-2.

Granted, Northridge played Pomona close in three losses last season, but the series has not been much of a rivalry overall.

Northridge’s only victories came in the 1975-76 and 88-89 seasons, and the Lady Matadors, who are bound for the NCAA Division I next season, have lost by an average score of 79-59.

Lashing out: Milke and Pomona Coach Darlene May were critical of the CCAA tournament’s scheduling arrangements after Saturday’s game.

Citing the lack of a locker room and a room to meet with her team after the game, Milke pointed out several problems with the tournament, in which the women’s championship is scheduled two hours before the men’s final at the same site.

“It was ridiculous for us to have to drive up (to Bakersfield) to play this game,” said Milke, whose team beat Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the semifinals at Pomona. “This tournament is supposed to be a reward for the girls, and there was nothing positive about the way we were treated. . . . The current set-up does nothing to promote women’s basketball. It’s a slap in the face.”

Statwatch: With 364 points this season, Northridge junior Julie Arlotto moved into fourth place on the school’s all-time list with 1,018 points.

With a career average of 11.8 points a game, Arlotto should move into second on the all-time Northridge list with a comparable senior season. But the Simi Valley High grad would have to score 450 points to replace Denise Sitton (1,467 points from 1982-86) as the Lady Matadors’ all-time leading scorer.

Killer three: Sandy Lomelino’s score-tying, three-point shot in the final minute of regulation play in Sequoias’ overtime victory against Valley in the semifinals of the women’s state tournament on Friday was shot through with irony--dramatic and traumatic from Valley’s point of view.

Lomelino’s shot, which tied the score, 58-58, was her only basket of the game. It was Sequoias’ eighth three-point basket of the season--the only one by a player currently on the roster. The previous seven three-point baskets were made by a player who quit the team in December.

Sequoias had played 28 games since making a three-point shot on Dec. 3. But at perhaps the most crucial point of the season, Lomelino hurled a shot from the top of the key that settled into the net with 43 seconds left.

Footlights to spotlight: Sylvia Castaneda began the season as a reserve and ended it as Valley’s only selection to the all-state tournament team.

In a quarterfinal win over De Anza on Thursday, point guard Castaneda was the only Valley player to make at least half (four of eight) of her shots. She finished with 10 points.

The next night, Castaneda again made four of eight shots, including a three-point basket. She also grabbed five rebounds and scored 11 points before fouling out in a 67-65 overtime loss to Sequoias in the semifinals.

Castaneda, who had been battling the flu, played to the point of exhaustion and was taken to the hospital after the game as a precaution against dehydration.

Deceptive duds: Golden West’s Claudette Jackson was seen wear ing a Cal State Northridge sweat shirt after leading her team to the state championship with 33 points and 14 rebounds in the final.

However, Jackson, a 5-foot-11 sophomore forward and the tournament’s most valuable player, has orally committed to Cal State Fullerton.

Staff writers Brendan Healey and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.