CHICO, Calif. – Things were looking up for Chico State. The Wildcats led 9-4 and its defense was clamping down on 18th-ranked Seattle Pacific. But the rest of the night was a downer. Seattle Pacific went on a 44-6 run and won the game 76-56.
The Falcons, who missed nine of their first 11 shots, made 26 of their last 47 attempts, including 7 of their 14 threes, to pull away. They also forced Chico State into 23 turnovers – seven on Daesha Henderson steals – to improve to 5-1 on the season, including 5-0 against Division II competition.
Chico State fell to 4-3 with just its third home loss in its last 51 contests in Acker Gym.
Caitlyn Rohrbach led SPU with 12 points and Kelsey Hill finished with 10. All-Tournament Team selections Maddie Maloney and Henderson finished with nine points apiece, as did Tournament Most Valuable Player Kelsey Burns.
Chico State’s Melissa Richardson made 5-of-8 threes and led all scorers with 18 points. All-Tournament Team selection Natasha Smith finished with 14 points and four assists.
The Wildcats will travel to Rohnert Park to take part in the Sonoma State Tournament Dec. 20-21 in their final action prior to resuming California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play on the first weekend of January.
BOX SCORE
Western Washington 58, Sonoma State 49
Western Washington held Sonoma State scoreless for more than five minutes late in the game while turning a one-point lead into an 11-point advantage en route to a 58-49 win in day two of the CCAA/GNAC Challenge hosted by Chico State Saturday night. Willow Cabe scored six points during the run while Sonoma State committed four turnovers and missed four straight shots.
Western Washington, led by Cabe’s 16 points and seven rebounds, improved to 6-2. All-Tournament Team selection Jessica Summers chipped in 11 points, six rebounds, and a pair of blocked shots. The Vikings also got big lifts off the bench from Marelle Moehrle, who scored seven points, and Gabby Wade, who grabbed eight rebounds.
Sonoma State fell to 3-4. The Seawolves got eight points and eight rebounds from Stephanie Barnes. Aly Conway, Marie Sweet, and Olivia Larkin came off the bench to score seven points apiece. Jaclyn Bisordi also scored seven points and grabbed a pair of steals.
The Seawolves jumped out to a 17-9 lead, but Western Washington responded with a 12-2 run, capped by India Soo’s 3-pointer, for a 21-19 lead. The lead changed hands three more times before the end of the half and two Tara Holgate free throws gave Western Washington the lead heading into the locker room, 27-26.
The lead changed hands four more times in the first seven minutes of the second half before the Vikings went on their game-changing run. Cabe’s good jumper was followed by Moerhle’s layup and two Cabe free throws to give Western Washington a 50-43 advantage, and Megan Pinske and Cabe added buckets for a 54-43 lead with 2:47 left.
Sonoma State cut the lead to five on Lauren Redfield’s 3-pointer with 48 seconds left, but Cabe made four straight free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
