CHICO – This week the Chico State women’s basketball team embarks on the second leg of its season-long five game road trip, and the Wildcats are gearing up to face two very formidable opponents as the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) conference race begins to heat up. Thursday the ’Cats travel to Arcata to take on the Humboldt State Lumberjacks, then on Saturday they’ll square off against Sonoma State in Rohnert Park.

Chico State, 7-4 on the season and 4-2 in CCAA play, split its two contests last week, falling to UC San Diego 75-62 on Jan. 7, then bouncing back to beat Cal State East Bay on Saturday, 78-60, snapping a two game mini-losing streak. The Wildcats enter this week’s action in fifth place in the CCAA, just a half-game back of fourth place Cal State Monterey Bay and a game behind third place Cal Poly Pomona.

Chico State continues to rank among the conference leaders in several team categories. The Wildcats lead the CCAA in rebounding (averaging 43.5 boards a game), are third in scoring (averaging 68.2 points a contest), and second in field goal percentage (41.4 percent). The ’Cats lead the conference in assists, averaging 16.3 a game, and are second in steals (10.9 per contest). In conference play, Chico State leads the CCAA in scoring (69.8 points a game), assists (16.3 per contest) and assist-to-turnover ration (0.8), and is second in field goal percentage (41.9 percent) and rebounding (44.5 give a night). Defensively, the Wildcats are sixth in the CCAA, allowing the opposition 60.2 points per game.

Individually, senior Melissa Richardson continues to be Chico State’s top scorer, ranking 11th in the CCAA with an 11.0 points per game average; her 24 3-pointers are the third most in the conference. Sophomore Pauline Ferrall is 14th in the CCAA, averaging 10.4 points a night to go along with over six rebounds a contest. Junior Natasha Smith has averaged 15 points over her last three games to raise her season average to 9.2 a night; she also leads the CCAA in assists (4.5 a game).

The Wildcats’ Thursday night opponent, Humboldt State, is once again among the conference’s elite teams, though it fell from the top of the CCAA standings last week. The Lumberjacks (9-3 overall, 7-1 in the CCAA) lost on the road last Saturday to Cal Poly Pomona, 58-55, halting a Humboldt three game winning streak and dropping the Lumberjacks into second place in the conference, a half-game behind front-running UC San Diego. Humboldt State, coached by former Chico State great Joddie (Vossler) Gleason, enters the week ranked second in the CCAA in scoring (averaging 68.3 points a game), third in field goal percentage (40.5 percent) and assists (15 a contest), and fifth in rebounding (40.2 boards a game). The Lumberjacks’ defense, though, ranks eighth in the conference, allowing an average of 61.7 points a game. Humboldt State is 4-1 this season on its home floor, Lumberjack Gym.

Senior center Brittney Taylor is Humboldt State’s leading scorer, averaging 15.7 points a game (5th in the CCAA), and pulls down over seven rebounds a night. Sophomore forward Bree Halsey (10.2 points, 9.4 rebounds) is averaging nearly a double-double per game, while senior guard Paige Peterson contributes 10 points and 3.6 assists per contest. Senior guard Andrea Bobic leads the Lumberjacks in 3-pointers with 21.

All-time, the Wildcats have won 58 of the 75 meetings with the Lumberjacks. The two teams split the season series in 2008-09, with Humboldt holding Chico State to its lowest scoring output of the season in a 74-43 win Feb. 14 in Arcata.

Sonoma State, which hosts Chico State Saturday, has struggled of late, losing three straight entering the week and seven of their last eight…as a result, the Seawolves have dipped to 5-8 on the season and occupies eighth place in the CCAA with a 3-5 conference record. Sonoma State dropped a pair on the road last weekend, losing to Cal Poly Pomona Friday and Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday. The Seawolves currently rank 11th in the CCAA in offense (averaging just 52.9 points a game), but fourth in defense (surrendering 57.3 points a contest). Six of the Seawolves’ eight losses this season have been on the road; Sonoma State is 2-2 this season at Seawolf Gymnasium.

No Sonoma State player is scoring in double figures so far this season; junior guard Oly Larkin tops the Seawolves with an 8.5 point-per-game average. Senior forward Stephanie Barnes is averaging 8.4 points a contest and leads Sonoma with 17 3-pointers. Sophomore center Christy Shreve is the Seawolves’ top rebounder, averaging five boards a game.

The Wildcats have won 54 of 70 meetings all-time with Sonoma State, including the last three straight. Chico State swept the season series in 2008-09 with a pair of eight point victories.

Tipoff for both the Thursday night tilt against Humboldt State and Saturday’s game versus Sonoma State are slated for 5:30 p.m. Follow all the action with Mike Baca providing the live play-by-play on ESPN 101.7 FM locally or on the Internet via the Wildcat Athletics website.