Chico State Athletics

With eight conference games remaining—including six at Acker Gym—the Chico State women’s basketball team has set itself up for a potentially memorable end-of-the-season run; one that the Wildcats hope leads to a berth in the upcoming California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament. Among the major reasons the ’Cats are in this position are the many on-court contributions of true freshman guard Charity Gallegos, and her consistently productive and exciting play makes her the latest Wildcat of the Week.
 
A little more than halfway into her first season of college ball, the Folsom product has already made quite an impression, earning admiration from opposing players and praise from coaches throughout the conference, as evidenced by her CCAA Player of the Week selection back in early November.
 
Gallegos leads the Wildcats in no less than six different statistical categories, including scoring (averaging 12.4 points a game), and tops the CCAA with 71 assists. She also ranks second among all conference players in assists per game (5.1) and assists-to-turnover ratio (2.5), seventh in steals per game (2.2), and 13th in scoring.
 
Last week Gallegos filled up the stat sheet in her usual solid fashion. In Chico State’s contests against Cal Poly Humboldt and Sonoma State, she tallied a combined 17 points, connected on three 3-pointers, hauled in seven rebounds, doled out seven assists, and grabbed three steals to help the Wildcats split the weekend road trip, improving to 8-7 on the season and 5-5 in CCAA play.
 
Her numbers, though, don’t tell the whole story. Gallegos never fails to provide a charge for the Wildcats on both the offensive and defensive ends, and her combination of speed and adept ballhandling skills make it particularly tough for opposing teams to keep up with the ’Cats whenever Gallegos is on the floor.
 
Gallegos and the Wildcats get set to enjoy some home cooking this week, as they welcome Cal Poly Pomona to Acker Gym Thursday and Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday. Both games tip off at 5:30 p.m.