SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Jade Smith-Williams and Natasha Smith combined for 24 second-half points as the Chico State women's basketball held off a late-charging Cal Poly Pomona team 78-74 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship Tournament semifinals Friday afternoon at Coussoulis Arena on the campus of Cal State San Bernardino. The Wildcats will face UC San Diego for the conference tournament crown and an automatic bid into the NCAA Championship Tournament Saturday at 5 p.m.
Five different Wildcats scored in double-figures in the victory, but Audriana Spencer was not one of them. The fourth-year senior and leading scorer on the team went down with an apparent left knee injury late in the first half and did not return. She made all three of her shot attempts and finished with eight points, though her streak of 16 consecutive games in double-figures came to an end. She is questionable for Saturday's title game.
Chico State improved to 26-5 with the win. Smith-Williams led the Wildcats with 17 points, 11 of which came in the second half. Smith, a true freshman, scored all 13 of her points after intermission. Amanda Monteith chipped in 12 points, seven rebounds, and a career-high four blocked shots. Renee Goldoff came off the bench to score 11 points. Christine Vest finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, and two blocked shots in a career-high 33 minutes off the bench.
The victory was the 50th in head coach Molly Goodenbour's two-year career. The Wildcats are now two wins shy of tying the program record for wins in a season, 28, set during the 2005-06 campaign.
Chico State has now beaten Cal Poly Pomona 10 times in a row, including three times this season. But the win was far from easy. The Wildcats twice built double-digit leads, only to see the Broncos get back to within one possession of the lead on both occasions.
The Wildcats led 68-54 with 4:25 to play before Cal Poly Pomona scored nine straight points to trim the lead to 68-63. Smith stopped the streak by hitting one-of-two free throws with 1:24 to play, but Ashley Moody and Natasha Reed both scored in the ensuing 17 seconds to make it a 69-67 lead with 1:07 to play. Smith-Williams stemmed the tide by making one-of-two free throws, but Vanessa Dominguez made two free throws 13 seconds later to pull the Broncos to within 70-69 with 50 seconds remaining. Vest got behind the defense on the inbounds play, scored, and was fouled, however. She completed the three-point play to build Chico State's lead to 73-69, and the lead was four or more for the rest of the game.
Dominguez scored 23 of her game-high 27 points in the second half to keep the Broncos' upset hopes alive. Needing the tournament title and the automatic bid that comes with it to have any hopes of an NCAA Tournament bid, the Broncos had already upset No. 2 seed Cal State San Bernardino Tuesday night. Andrea Ohlssen finished with 11 points and six assists for the Broncos, who finished the season 12-16 overall.
One of the big stories of the game was the defense that the true freshman Smith played on CCAA Freshman of the Year Reyana Colson. Many believed Smith might win that honor. She was clearly the better player Friday, limiting Colson to six points before she fouled out in only 19 minutes of action.
Official Basketball Box Score
Cal Poly Pomona vs Chico State
03-07-08 3 p.m. at CSU San Bernardino (Coussoulis Arena)
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VISITORS: Cal Poly Pomona 12-16
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 ANDERSON, Unique.... * 2-6 0-0 0-1 1 0 1 4 4 3 2 0 1 23
14 REED, Natasha....... * 2-3 0-0 0-1 2 1 3 3 4 0 1 1 1 14
22 FERGUSON, Khiara.... * 4-6 0-0 1-1 1 1 2 3 9 0 2 1 0 18
25 COLSON, Reyana...... * 2-5 0-0 2-3 0 1 1 5 6 2 2 0 1 19
32 DOMINGUEZ, Vanessa.. * 7-18 2-4 11-14 2 5 7 3 27 3 2 0 2 40
02 BRICK, Cassey....... 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 3 0 2 0 0 7
04 McVICAR, Sarah...... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 11
10 MOODY, Ashley....... 3-9 1-1 0-2 0 5 5 3 7 6 4 0 2 22
20 OHLSSEN, Andrea..... 3-8 3-6 2-2 0 0 0 4 11 2 0 0 0 23
23 PINEDA, Anna........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
24 GUTIERREZ, Shannon.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
34 KIRKSEY, Porsche.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
40 JOSHI, Neha......... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 3 3 1 0 0 0 8
TEAM................ 5 5 10 2
Totals.............. 25-61 8-15 16-24 11 19 30 31 74 18 17 2 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-26 30.8% 2nd Half: 17-35 48.6% Game: 41.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% Game: 53.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-10 60.0% 2nd Half: 10-14 71.4% Game: 66.7% 3
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HOME TEAM: Chico State 26-5
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 * 4-12 0-3 9-15 1 1 2 3 17 7 4 0 1 39
11 SMITH, Natasha...... * 3-6 0-0 7-8 0 3 3 4 13 2 3 0 0 27
21 RICHARDSON, Melissa. * 0-2 0-2 4-5 0 4 4 2 4 1 2 0 2 28
22 MONTEITH, Amanda.... * 2-4 1-1 7-8 1 6 7 5 12 0 2 4 1 31
24 SPENCER, Audriana... * 3-3 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 1 16
20 LYDON, Taylor....... 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 3 3 1 3 0 3 0 0 11
23 OELSNER, Sam........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
33 GOLDOFF, Renee...... 4-7 0-0 3-4 1 1 2 5 11 0 1 1 2 15
42 VEST, Christine..... 3-5 0-0 4-5 2 5 7 2 10 1 4 2 0 33
TEAM................ 3 7 10 1
Totals.............. 20-40 2-7 36-47 8 30 38 22 78 11 20 7 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-24 41.7% 2nd Half: 10-16 62.5% Game: 50.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 0-2 0.0% Game: 28.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 12-14 85.7% 2nd Half: 24-33 72.7% Game: 76.6% 4
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Officials: Alex Moreno, Dominic Bosque
Technical fouls: Cal Poly Pomona-TEAM 1. Chico State-TEAM 1.
Attendance: 275
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Cal Poly Pomona............... 24 50 - 74
Chico State................... 34 44 - 78
CCAA semifinal No. 2
Points in the paint-CPP 14,CSUC 18. Points off turnovers-CPP 23,CSUC 21.
2nd chance points-CPP 6,CSUC 5. Fast break points-CPP 0,CSUC 4.
Bench points-CPP 24,CSUC 24. Score tied-7 times. Lead changed-3 times.
Last FG-CPP 2nd-00:00, CSUC 2nd-00:45.
Largest lead-CPP by 3 1st-12:44, CSUC by 14 2nd-04:25.
