CHICO – The Chico State women’s basketball team takes a break from conference play this weekend when it travels to Rohnert Park to take part in the two-day California Collegiate Athletic Assocation (CCAA)/Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Challenge at Sonoma State. In what will be their final contests before the holidays, the No. 17 Wildcats will face a pair of formidable foes, as they take on 14th-ranked Western Washington Friday and Seattle Pacific on Saturday. Both games are set to tip off at 5 p.m.

Chico State will enter Friday’s tilt with Western Washington sporting a 6-0 record on the season and sitting atop the CCAA standings with a 4-0 conference mark. A victory versus the Vikings will make the Wildcats the first Chico State women’s basketball team since 2001-02 to win seven straight to start the season.

In the first five games of the 2010-11 campaign, the ’Cats are averaging just under 70 points a contest, while holding opponents to just 57.2 points a night. Chico State is tops in the CCAA is rebounding (averaging 42 boards a game), assists (15.8 a contest) and free throw percentage (77.7). Individually, Pauline Ferrall ranks in the conference’s top 25 in scoring (10.3 points a game) and top five in blocked shots (1.2 a night); Kristin Marquardt is 12th in the CCAA in rebounding (6.5 a game), and Molly Collins is the conference’s No. 1 foul shooter, connecting on all 14 of her free throws this season.

Western Washington is also enjoying a successful start to its season. The Vikings come into the CCAA/GNAC Challenge with a 5-0 overall record, with three of their wins coming against CCAA schools (UC San Diego, San Francisco State and Cal State East Bay) by an average margin of 27 points. Western Washington, coming off a 23-5 season in 2009-10 and an NCAA West Region appearance, has averaged 69.4 points of offense, and has been ultra-stingy on the defensive side of the ball – opponents have averaged just 46.6 points a game against the Vikings so far this season.

Western Washington features four players who are scoring in double digits: senior guard Amanda Dunbar – an All-GNAC, Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and Daktronics All-West Region First Team selection in 2009-10 – leads the Vikings with a 13.4 points per game average, and has drained a team-high 16 3-pointers. Senior guard Megan Pinske contributes 11.6 points and 4.4 assists a contest, while sophomore guard Corinn Waltrip had nailed 13 treys and is averaging 10.8 points a game. Senior center Lauren Hefflin, one of two returning starters from last season, is averaging 10 points and nine rebounds a contest.

All-time, Western Washington has won nine of 15 meetings with Chico State, but last season the Wildcats avenged an 80-59 loss Dec. 20 at the GNAC/CCAA Challenge by knocking out the Vikings in the first round of the NCAA West Regional with a 79-68 victory Mar. 12 in Seattle.

Seattle Pacific, which takes on Sonoma State Friday prior to its Saturday meeting with the Wildcats, is 2-2 on the season, and until last weekend was ranked No. 5 in the nation. The Falcons were beaten twice in the GNAC/Pac West Challenge in St. George, Utah, losing to No. 21 Grand Canyon 74-69 and Dixie State 76-66, and as a result tumbled all the way out of this week’s USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll.

Seattle Pacific, last season’s GNAC champions that reached the NCAA Championship Tournament Elite Eight, has beaten only UC San Diego and San Francisco State so far in 2010-11. The Falcons are averaging 64 points a game on offense, while giving up 64.5 points on defense. Seattle Pacific, which returns nine players from last season’s 27-4 team, is led by junior guard Nyesha Sims (11.3 points, 7.5 rebounds a game) and senior center Melissa Reich (10.5 points, 8.0 rebounds a contest).

The Falcons have won 11 of 15 meetings all-time versus Chico State, including the last four contests. Seattle Pacific beat the Wildcats twice in 2009-10, and ended Chico State’s season with a 76-68 victory over the ’Cats Mar. 15 in the NCAA West Regional title game. The last time Chico State beat the Falcons was Mar. 10, 2007, in the West Region semifinals.

Both Chico State games will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 101.7 FM and 1340 AM locally, as well as on the Internet via the Wildcat Athletics website. Live Stats and streaming video of Friday and Saturday’s Wildcat games will also be available through the official CCAA/GNAC Challenge website.