CHICO, Calif. – The most highly-anticipated California Collegiate Athletic Association women’s basketball game of the night was quickly decided. Chico State used a suffocating defense to open up a 45-12 lead early in the second half and then put it in cruise control en route to a 70-59 victory Saturday night at Acker Gym.
True freshman Natasha Smith led the Wildcats with 16 points, Audriana Spencer scored 13, Jade Smith-Williams added 11, and Cory Edwards chipped in 10 as Chico State improved to 12-3 overall and 5-1 in the CCAA.
The Wildcats limited four-time CCAA Player of the Week Vanessa Wilt to 14 points and forced her into six turnovers. She did collect 10 rebounds for her 12th straight double-double, but the Coyotes fell to 11-2 overall and 5-1 in the CCAA. Wilt entered the game averaging 23.4 points and 14.3 rebounds per game. Cal State San Bernardino, Chico State, and Sonoma State are now tied atop the conference standings. UC San Diego is one game back at 4-2.
Chico State scored 15 unanswered points after Wilt scored on the Coyotes’ first possession to take a 15-2 lead. Spencer and Richardson scored two buckets each to key the run.
The Wildcats built the lead to 35-12 by intermission as six different players went to the locker room with four points or more, led by Spencer’s nine. In the process, Spencer scored her 1,071st career point, moving her past former teammate Michelle Pietka into seventh place on Chico State’s career scoring list.
The second half started even worse for San Bernardino, which missed its first nine shots of the second half. At that point, the Coyote were just 6-for-38 (16 percent) from the floor. Smith-Williams’ layup with 16:02 remaining gave Chico State its largest lead of the night, 45-12.
The lead was still as large as 62-37 with five minutes remaining, but San Bernardino finished the contest on a 22-8 run. Shanae Blake did most of the damage for the Coyotes, exploding for all 20 of her points over the game’s final 13:44.
Amanda Monteith and Renee Goldoff were assigned the task of guarding Wilt for much of the night and did a magnificent job. Monteith grabbed four rebounds and a steal in 18 minutes of work, while Goldoff finished with nine points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes of action.
Chico State will open up a four-game road trip next Friday at Humboldt State. Tip off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
CS San Bernardino vs Chico State
01/12/08 5:30 at Acker Gym - Chico, Calif.
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VISITORS: CS San Bernardino 11-2, 5-1 CCAA
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
13 JOHNSON, Rachel..... * 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 7
15 BLAKE, Shanae....... * 6-16 2-8 6-7 2 0 2 0 20 1 0 0 0 31
21 FORD, Ashlee........ * 0-4 0-2 0-0 1 1 2 1 0 2 0 0 0 22
24 BARNES, Stephanie... * 0-4 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 12
42 WILT, Vanessa....... * 6-9 0-0 2-6 5 5 10 5 14 0 6 1 1 36
04 BROWN, Koi.......... 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 9
10 PRYOR, Jatarra...... 2-4 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 3 4 1 0 0 0 14
20 URZUA, Krystal...... 3-10 2-6 0-0 1 1 2 3 8 1 0 0 0 19
22 RAINVILLE, Jaclyn... 1-5 0-1 0-0 1 2 3 0 2 1 2 0 1 13
30 REDFOX, Diane....... 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 9
34 JONES, Verenique.... 1-6 0-3 0-0 3 2 5 1 2 1 1 0 1 17
35 EGBUNA, Phylicia.... 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 8
44 PICKRON, Leslie..... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3
TEAM................ 3 4 7 1
Totals.............. 23-69 5-23 8-13 19 18 37 15 59 8 13 1 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 6-29 20.7% 2nd Half: 17-40 42.5% Game: 33.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-9 0.0% 2nd Half: 5-14 35.7% Game: 21.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 8-13 61.5% Game: 61.5% 3,1
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HOME TEAM: Chico State 12-3, 5-1 CCAA
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 * 4-7 1-1 2-2 0 1 1 4 11 3 1 0 2 23
11 SMITH, Natasha...... * 4-8 2-4 6-6 0 3 3 3 16 1 4 0 1 31
21 RICHARDSON, Melissa. * 2-6 1-4 0-0 2 5 7 1 5 2 0 1 2 35
22 MONTEITH, Amanda.... * 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 4 2 0 0 0 1 18
24 SPENCER, Audriana... * 5-11 0-1 3-3 1 4 5 1 13 1 1 0 0 31
12 FOSTER, Brandi...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
20 LYDON, Taylor....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5
33 GOLDOFF, Renee...... 4-9 0-0 1-1 1 7 8 1 9 2 3 0 0 19
40 WASHINGTON, Ashley.. 0-1 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 5
41 EDWARDS, Cory....... 2-4 1-1 5-5 0 3 3 1 10 1 2 0 0 23
42 VEST, Christine..... 0-1 0-0 3-4 1 0 1 0 3 0 2 0 0 9
TEAM................ 2 1 3 1
Totals.............. 22-48 5-11 21-23 8 28 36 17 70 10 15 1 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-32 46.9% 2nd Half: 7-16 43.8% Game: 45.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-7 42.9% 2nd Half: 2-4 50.0% Game: 45.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-2 100 % 2nd Half: 19-21 90.5% Game: 91.3% 1,1
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Officials: Dee Hernandez, Kimberlyn Maines, John Peterson
Technical fouls: CS San Bernardino-None. Chico State-None.
Attendance: 689
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
CS San Bernardino............. 12 47 - 59
Chico State................... 35 35 - 70
Points in the paint-CSUSBW 30,CSUC 26. Points off turnovers-CSUSBW 23,CSUC 9.
2nd chance points-CSUSBW 12,CSUC 8. Fast break points-CSUSBW 0,CSUC 2.
Bench points-CSUSBW 25,CSUC 23. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-CSUSBW 2nd-00:07, CSUC 2nd-05:34.
Largest lead-CSUSBW by 2 1st-19:39, CSUC by 33 2nd-16:02.
