STOCKTON (March 6, 2015) -- Coyotes coach Renee Jimenez believes her team is worthy of an NCAA Tournament berth. And based on how well the Coyotes perfomed during the CCAA Tournament, they made believers out of the conference field.

The fifth-seeded Coyotes took top-seed and conference co-champion Cal State Dominguez Hills into overtime, before losing 69-66 in the CCAA semifinals at the Stockton Arena on Friday afternoon.

Juniors Adriana Brodie and Chelsea Barnes each scored 17 points, and fellow juniors Alexcia Mack and Chelsea Austin had 15 and 10 points, respectively, for the Coyotes (19-9), who fought back from an 11-point deficit with 13:23 left in the game.

"We could not have played any better than what we showed this afternoon,'' Jimenez said. "We played hard with poise and effort and I'd love to have another game to coach this team this season.''

CSUDH (25-6) built an 11-point lead with 13:23 and remained ahead by double digits on a 3-pointer from Taylor Champion with 8:48 that put her team ahead 52-42.

That's when the Coyotes found another gear that began with a layup from Barnes. Austin followed with a 3-pointer and a 3-point play from Brodie got the Coyotes to within two points (52-50) with 6:16 left.

Barnes continued the run with a free throw, then Mack added two free throws and when Brodie followed that with a layup, the Coyotes had their 13-0 run and the lead, 55-52 with 3:42 left.

CSUDH came back, and took the lead 60-58 on Talia Rayford's layup, but Austin answered with one of her own and the game was tied at 60-60 with 1:16 left.

The Coyotes had a shot at the win, but Austin's 3-pointer was off with 32 seconds left and the Toros had the ball for the final play.

That's when senior Briana Baker stepped up for the Coyotes. She forced a turnover on CSUDH All-CCAA Breanne Garcia with four seconds to go and tossed up a 3-pointer from inside the midcourt stripe that bounced hard off the rim.

"Just like coach says 'Get in position to make a play' and that's what happened,'' Baker said. "I stepped  and got the ball and I was so hoping the shot would count.''

In OT, CSUDH outscored the Coyotes 9-6 and the Coyotes had a shot at the tie, but the Toros bottled up Austin at the top of the key with time running out and the shot was well off the hoop.

"We feed off our defense and that allowed us to get going on that run late in the game,'' said Jimemez, as the Coyotes outscored the Toros on points off turnovers, 17-11.

The Coyotes will now await the NCAA Tournament Sunday night at www.ncaasports.com. They entered the weekend 10th in the country, defeated No. 9 UC San Diego and No. 7 Cal Poly Pomona and No. 6 Point Loma lost in their conference quarterfinal games.

"We would love the chance to go to Alaska-Anchorage and play the top team in the country,'' Jimenez said. "We'll just have to wait and see, but we would all like to play at least one more time together.''

All five Toros scored in double figures. They were led by Garcia with 17.