MONMOUTH, Ore.—No. 12 nationally ranked Chico State held off a late Western Oregon challenge to win a GNAC-CCAA Women’s Basketball Challenge game on Friday night at the Physical Education Building, 73-61.
The win improved the Wildcats’ record to 7-2 on the season, while Western Oregon dropped to 4-5. The tournament featured teams from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Chico State finished 1-0, Humboldt State was 0-1, and Western Oregon, Saint Martin’s and Cal Poly Pomona were all 1-1.
The Wildcats led the entire first half and took a 41-31 margin into the locker room at the break. But Western Oregon crept back into the contest in the second 20 minutes, climbing to within two points (59-57) with 7:12 remaining on a basket by Sara Zahler, and they were just one digit behind after a Leada Berkey free throw. Moments later, Katie Torland gave the Wolves the lead with two charity tosses (60-59) with 6:30 left.
But Chico State countered with a trey from Natasha Smith to put the Wildcats back on top (62-60) for good and Audriana Spencer followed with another three-pointer moments later to put the visitors up by five with 5:08 left. They pushed their lead from there, outscoring Western Oregon 14-1 over the final 6:30.
Spencer, playing in her 100th game in a Chico State uniform, led the Wildcats and all scorers with 17 points, while Renee Goldoff added 15 points and Amanda Monteith had 12. Melissa Richardson also filled up the stat sheet with six points, seven rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and two steals.
Berkey, an Honorable Mention All-American last season, was limited to 14 points by a stingy Chico State defense. She also had nine boards, but the Wildcats out-rebounded WOU 45-32.
Official Basketball Box Score
Chico State vs Western Oregon
12/21/07 4:10 pm at New PE Building (Monmouth, Ore.)
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VISITORS: Chico State 7-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 SMITH-WILLIAMS, Jade * 3-13 0-3 0-0 1 0 1 3 6 1 4 0 2 30
21 RICHARDSON, Melissa. * 3-8 0-2 0-0 3 4 7 1 6 3 2 2 2 29
22 MONTEITH, Amanda.... * 4-8 0-1 4-4 2 4 6 4 12 2 3 2 2 27
24 SPENCER, Audriana... * 7-12 3-4 0-0 1 5 6 2 17 0 2 2 1 27
33 GOLDOFF, Renee...... * 6-11 0-0 3-4 2 4 6 5 15 4 2 0 1 20
11 SMITH, Natasha...... 1-4 1-2 1-2 0 1 1 5 4 1 3 0 1 19
23 OELSNER, Sam........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
40 WASHINGTON, Ashley.. 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 4
41 EDWARDS, Cory....... 2-7 1-1 0-1 1 3 4 2 5 2 2 1 1 23
42 VEST, Christine..... 2-4 0-0 2-2 2 3 5 0 6 0 1 0 0 21
TEAM................ 5 3 8
Totals.............. 29-68 5-13 10-13 17 28 45 22 73 13 20 8 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 18-38 47.4% 2nd Half: 11-30 36.7% Game: 42.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 38.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 7-9 77.8% Game: 76.9% 1
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HOME TEAM: Western Oregon 4-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
11 Zahler,Sara......... * 5-10 2-4 0-0 2 1 3 2 12 1 3 0 0 34
14 Chase,Whitney....... * 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 13
20 Berkey,Leada........ * 4-12 2-5 4-9 0 9 9 3 14 3 9 0 0 34
23 Torland,Katie....... * 1-8 0-2 6-6 0 6 6 3 8 1 4 0 0 26
32 Crumb,Alison........ * 2-4 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 0 5 2 3 0 0 30
02 Wyffels,Vanessa..... 6-12 0-0 1-3 3 1 4 3 13 3 1 0 2 26
24 Goss,Jessica........ 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 7
25 Wells,Danielle...... 2-3 0-0 1-2 1 2 3 2 5 2 1 0 0 13
30 Corder,Shayla....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 7
31 Carpenter,Claire.... 0-1 0-1 2-2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 10
TEAM................ 1 3 4
Totals.............. 20-52 5-15 16-24 8 24 32 15 61 12 23 0 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-24 45.8% 2nd Half: 9-28 32.1% Game: 38.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 1-9 11.1% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-8 62.5% 2nd Half: 11-16 68.8% Game: 66.7% 4
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Officials: Jay Schumaker, Chris Equinoa, Eric Johnson
Technical fouls: Chico State-None. Western Oregon-None.
Attendance: 165
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Chico State................... 41 32 - 73
Western Oregon................ 31 30 - 61
