CHICO, Calif. – The Chico State women's basketball team clinched its third California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) title in the last four years Thursday night. Fittingly, the Wildcats did it with defense. Chico State forced 28 turnovers and swiped a season-high 18 steals in a 70-42 victory against Cal State L.A. in front of 1,001 fans at Acker Gym. That win, coupled with Cal State San Bernardino's loss at Humboldt State, secures the conference title for the Wildcats, their first under head coach Molly Goodenbour.
Audriana Spencer finished with 17 points, five assists, four rebounds, two blocked shots, and two steals to lead the Wildcats, who improved to 23-5 overall and 16-3 in the CCAA. It was their 15th straight home win. Jade Smith-Williams finished with 11 points, eight assists, and four steals. True freshman Natasha Smith swiped a season-high six steals. Cory Edwards came off the bench to score eight points and grab a team-high eight boards.
The 2007-08 Wildcats are the sixth team in the program's history to win 23 games. They'll have a chance to become the third straight and third ever Chico State women’s basketball team to win 24 games in a season in their regular-season finale Friday against Cal State Dominguez Hills at 6 p.m. The Wildcats will then play host to Cal State Dominguez Hills or Cal Poly Pomona Tuesday at 7 p.m. in their final home game of the season in the opening round of the CCAA Championship Tournament.
Amber Whittington led Cal State L.A. with 15 points, but the Golden Eagles saw their postseason hopes end with their loss and Cal State Dominguez Hills' win at Cal State Stanislaus. Rachel Ottovich chipped in 10 points. Yasmeen Herrera grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and made all three of her shots.
Chico State exploded to a 17-2 lead over the first eight-plus minutes of the game. Spencer opened the game with a 3-pointer and then a layup. She assisted on the Wildcats' next bucket. Spencer finished the half with 10 points and assisted on five other scores. Smith-Williams finished the half with seven points and six assists, and the Wildcats led 39-20 at intermission.
Cal State L.A. never got closer than 17 points in the second half. Ashley Washington capped a 10-0 run with four straight points to build Chico State's advantage to its largest of the night, 65-35 with 4:04 to play.
Official Basketball Box Score
Cal State L.A. vs Chico State
02/28/08 5:30 at Acker Gym - Chico, Calif.
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VISITORS: Cal State L.A. 9-16, 6-13 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 KITCHEN, Ashley..... * 0-7 0-1 4-6 0 3 3 2 4 1 11 1 1 34
04 ODA, Jaemy.......... * 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 3 3 1 0 2 4 0 0 14
15 HERRERA, Yasmeen.... * 3-3 0-0 0-0 3 6 9 1 6 1 3 0 0 35
33 WHITTINGTON, Amber.. * 7-12 0-0 1-2 3 3 6 2 15 3 5 0 2 34
34 OTTOVICH, Rachel.... * 3-5 0-0 4-5 1 3 4 2 10 2 1 0 2 23
00 WILLIAMS, Veronica.. 2-12 1-8 0-0 0 3 3 3 5 0 1 0 0 32
10 JAMES, Shanice...... 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 0 1 1 0 0 12
12 JOHNSON, Jazzi...... 0-4 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 1 2 0 1 0 1 10
21 STOKLEY, Fatimah.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
25 RODGERS, Danielle... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
TEAM................ 1 3 4 1
Totals.............. 15-47 1-10 11-15 10 28 38 16 42 10 28 1 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 7-25 28.0% 2nd Half: 8-22 36.4% Game: 31.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-6 16.7% 2nd Half: 0-4 0.0% Game: 10.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-8 62.5% 2nd Half: 6-7 85.7% Game: 73.3% 2,1
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HOME TEAM: Chico State 23-5, 16-3 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 0-0 3-4 0 2 2 3 11 8 3 0 4 28
11 SMITH, Natasha...... * 1-7 0-1 3-4 0 1 1 3 5 2 1 0 6 19
21 RICHARDSON, Melissa. * 0-5 0-2 0-0 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 24
22 MONTEITH, Amanda.... * 3-6 0-1 3-3 0 4 4 3 9 1 0 0 2 21
24 SPENCER, Audriana... * 7-13 3-6 0-0 0 4 4 1 17 5 1 2 2 30
12 FOSTER, Brandi...... 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 3
20 LYDON, Taylor....... 1-7 0-3 0-0 2 1 3 3 2 2 0 0 2 17
23 OELSNER, Sam........ 1-4 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 3 0 2 0 0 4
40 WASHINGTON, Ashley.. 1-2 0-0 3-5 2 0 2 0 5 0 0 0 0 13
41 EDWARDS, Cory....... 2-4 0-1 4-4 4 4 8 2 8 0 2 1 0 18
42 VEST, Christine..... 4-5 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 8 1 0 0 1 23
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 25-63 4-16 16-20 10 23 33 17 70 20 9 3 18 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-30 46.7% 2nd Half: 11-33 33.3% Game: 39.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 2-9 22.2% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 9-11 81.8% 2nd Half: 7-9 77.8% Game: 80.0% 3,1
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Officials: Mark Wilson, Steve O'Bryan, Kimberlyn Mains
Technical fouls: Cal State L.A.-None. Chico State-None.
Attendance: 1001
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Cal State L.A................. 20 22 - 42
Chico State................... 39 31 - 70
Chico State claims its third conference title in four years and its first
under head coach Molly Goodenbour thanks to its win and Cal State San
Bernardino's loss at Humboldt State. The Wildcats have now won 15 straight
at home. They host Cal State Dominguez Hills Friday at 5:30.
Points in the paint-CSULA 26,CSUC 32. Points off turnovers-CSULA 6,CSUC 27.
2nd chance points-CSULA 8,CSUC 6. Fast break points-CSULA 2,CSUC 12.
Bench points-CSULA 7,CSUC 28. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-CSULA 2nd-00:30, CSUC 2nd-00:59.
Largest lead-CSULA None, CSUC by 30 2nd-04:04.
