CHICO, Calif. – The crowd stood as one and cheered as the final minute ran off the clock. They were cheering for Audriana Spencer, playing in her final home game in front of the Acker Gym faithful. They were cheering for the Wildcats, who completed an unblemished season at home with a 62-45 shellacking of Cal State Dominguez Hills in the opening round of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship Tournament. They were cheering for Chico State's 25th win of the season, the second most in the program's history. They were cheering for a dominating Wildcats defense that forced 29 turnovers on the night.
Yep, there was plenty to cheer about Tuesday night.
The Wildcats, ranked No. 18 in the nation and No. 2 in the West Region, improved to 25-5 on the season. Only the 2005-06 Final Four team that finished 28-4 has won more. They also finished their home slate 13-0 and have won 17 straight and 45 of their last 46 at Acker Gym. It was their second home victory in five days against Cal State Dominguez Hills, which finished what was once a promising season 13-15. The Toros were the coaches' preseason pick to win the CCAA title that the Wildcats eventually claimed for the third time in four years.
Top-seeded Chico State will now prepare to face the seventh-seeded Cal Poly Pomona in the conference tournament semifinals Friday at 3 p.m. The Broncos knocked host Cal State San Bernardino out of the tournament with a 57-52 upset Thursday. In other tournament action Thursday, No. 3 UC San Diego held off a hard-charging San Francisco State team 59-55, and No. 4 Sonoma State beat No. 5 Humboldt State 65-55. UC San Diego and Sonoma State will square off at 12:30 Thursday in the other semifinal game. The winners will meet Saturday at 5 p.m. with an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship Tournament on the line.
Spencer scored nine points in the first 7:23 of the game as the Wildcats build a 14-8 lead they would never relinquish. The senior finished with a game-high 15 points to move past Michelle Vanden Bosch (1,312 career points from 1993-97) into sixth place on Chico State's career scoring list. She has now scored 1,319 career points. Samantha Copenhaver, in fifth, scored 1,397 in her career. Spencer left Acker Gym for the final time in a Chico State women's basketball uniform Tuesday night as the University's career leader in 3-pointers made (196), 3-point field goal percentage (.399), wins (101), and games played (121). She also ranks fourth with 315 career assists and sixth with 181 career steals.
The crowd was given the opportunity to stand and cheer for Spencer and the Wildcats because of their dominating performance on the defensive side of the ball. They held the visiting Toros to their lowest scoring output of the season with a suffocating defense that forced 29 turnovers. Christine Vest came off the bench to nab a career-high six steals, while fellow sub Taylor Lydon set her career mark with three. The Wildcats held Cal State Dominguez Hills to 37-percent shooting and its leading scorer, Jessica Liang, to five points on 1-of-8 shooting.
Meanwhile, Spencer handed off the offensive catalyst baton to Jade Smith-Williams for the second half. The sophomore point guard scored all 13 of her points after intermission, including the team's first 11 points of the half. Her lone 3-pointer of the night sparked a 9-0 run that stretched Chico State's lead to 51-32 with 7:50 remaining. Cal State Dominguez Hills cut it back to 13, but Spencer scored on a drive and then made two free throws to put the game away for good.
True freshman Natasha Smith finished with nine points and a season-high eight rebounds for the Wildcats. BVest scored eight points, and Melissa Richardson had seven.
Michelle Kribell, Ashley Johnson, and Alana Bailey scored eight points apiece to lead the Toros.
Official Basketball Box Score
Cal State Dominguez Hills vs Chico State
03/04/08 7:00 p.m. at Acker Gym - Chico, Calif.
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VISITORS: Cal State Dominguez Hills 13-15
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
15 BALDWIN, Aujanee.... * 2-5 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 2 5 2 3 1 2 27
22 LIANG, Jessica...... * 1-8 1-3 2-2 0 2 2 0 5 2 3 0 3 31
24 JOHNSON, Ashley..... * 4-9 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 3 8 1 4 0 4 30
42 KYLES, Ennisha...... * 0-2 0-0 2-2 2 6 8 1 2 1 5 1 1 22
45 BAILEY, Alana....... * 3-7 0-0 2-3 4 3 7 2 8 0 5 1 1 25
10 LEASAU, Diana....... 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 1 2 0 4 0 0 10
12 MONTALVO, Kayla..... 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 0 2 0 1 9
32 GANTT, Whitney...... 1-4 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 2 3 2 1 0 0 15
33 HOUSTON, Barbara.... 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 3 2 0 0 1 0 6
50 KRIBELL, Michelle... 3-5 0-2 2-4 2 0 2 1 8 0 1 0 0 25
TEAM................ 2 3 5 1
Totals.............. 17-46 1-5 10-16 14 20 34 17 45 8 29 4 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-18 44.4% 2nd Half: 9-28 32.1% Game: 37.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-2 0.0% 2nd Half: 1-3 33.3% Game: 20.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-9 77.8% 2nd Half: 3-7 42.9% Game: 62.5% 2
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HOME TEAM: Chico State 25-5
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 * 5-5 1-1 2-2 0 0 0 4 13 1 3 0 0 29
11 SMITH, Natasha...... * 2-9 0-4 5-10 3 5 8 4 9 2 1 0 1 29
21 RICHARDSON, Melissa. * 2-6 1-4 2-2 0 3 3 0 7 1 6 0 1 24
22 MONTEITH, Amanda.... * 1-7 0-0 0-0 2 4 6 3 2 2 1 0 1 33
24 SPENCER, Audriana... * 6-14 1-4 2-2 1 1 2 2 15 2 5 0 1 32
12 FOSTER, Brandi...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
20 LYDON, Taylor....... 2-2 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 3 5 0 0 0 3 15
23 OELSNER, Sam........ 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1
40 WASHINGTON, Ashley.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 6
42 VEST, Christine..... 2-5 0-0 4-4 1 2 3 3 8 1 3 0 6 30
TEAM................ 2 3 5 1
Totals.............. 21-49 5-15 15-20 10 18 28 19 62 9 22 0 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-23 47.8% 2nd Half: 10-26 38.5% Game: 42.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-7 42.9% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 9-14 64.3% 2nd Half: 6-6 100 % Game: 75.0% 3,1
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Officials: Chris Chapin, Mark Wilson, Skelly Marshall
Technical fouls: Cal State Dominguez Hills-None. Chico State-None.
Attendance: 331
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Cal State Dominguez Hills..... 23 22 - 45
Chico State................... 34 28 - 62
Chico State wins opening game of the CCAA Championship Tournament. The
Wildcats play Cal Poly Pomona Friday in the semifinals. Chico State's 25 wins
are the second most in Chico State history. The 2005-06 team won 28. Audriana
Spencer, in her final home game, moved into sixth on CSUC's scoring list.
Points in the paint-CSUDH 22,CSUC 30. Points off turnovers-CSUDH 20,CSUC 22.
2nd chance points-CSUDH 9,CSUC 13. Fast break points-CSUDH 2,CSUC 0.
Bench points-CSUDH 17,CSUC 16. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-3 times.
Last FG-CSUDH 2nd-00:26, CSUC 2nd-00:00.
Largest lead-CSUDH by 4 1st-18:46, CSUC by 19 2nd-07:50.
