CHICO – Fans of Chico State women’s basketball have no doubt been tickled pink with the team’s impressive play this season, and Friday night the Wildcat faithful will have the chance to back up their colorful enthusiasm – Acker Gym will officially turn into the “Pink Zone” when the ’Cats entertain Cal State East Bay in the opener of their weekend doubleheader. Saturday Chico State will face a major test when it hosts the No. 7 ranked UC San Diego Tritons.
Both the Chico State men’s and women’s basketball teams are taking part Friday in the “Pink Zone,” the breast cancer awareness initiative of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). Players for both teams will be wearing special “Pink Zone” t-shirts during pre-game warm-ups, as will everyone working on the courtside scorer’s table. Members of SAAC, Chico State’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, will be in the Acker Gym lobby selling “Pink Zone” t-shirts and collecting contributions to raise money for the Wildcat Relay for Life team. Everyone attending Friday’s games will receive a free pink lei at the door.
The Wildcats opened their five game homestand in fine style Tuesday, beating Cal State Stanislaus 68-54 to win for the eighth time in 10 tries this season in the friendly confines of Acker Gym. Chico State seems to be peaking at the right time – the ’Cats have won two straight and five of their last six to improve to 13-8 on the season, and with Cal State Monterey Bay losing to San Francisco State Wednesday, the Wildcats have now pulled into a tie with the Otters for fourth place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings with a 10-6 conference mark. Chico State owns the tiebreaker with Monterey Bay, so if the season were to end today, Chico State would host a first round game in the CCAA Championship Tournament. Even better news is that the Wildcats rose from No. 9 to No. 7 in the West Region rankings, bolstering Chico State’s chances of earning a berth in the NCAA Championship Tournament.
Chico State continues to rank among the conference leaders in several team categories – the Wildcats entered the week leading the CCAA in rebounding (averaging 41.5 boards a game), are third in scoring (averaging 65.4 points a contest), and third in field goal percentage (40.4 percent). The ’Cats lead the conference in steals, averaging just under 11 a game, and are third in assists (14.6 per contest). Defensively, the Wildcats are fifth in the CCAA, allowing 57.2 points per game…but the ’Cats are the stingiest team in the conference against the 3-pointer, holding opponents to just 26.2 percent shooting from behind the arc.
Natasha Smith is Chico State’s leading scorer, averaging 10.9 points per game. Smith also ranks fourth in the CCAA in assists (3.3 per contest). Melissa Richardson is averaging 9.8 points per contest…her 38 3-pointers are the fourth most in the CCAA. Pauline Ferrall averages 9.2 points a night to go along with 5.2 rebounds a contest, while senior Christine Vest is the Wildcats’ top rebounder, averaging 6.2 boards per game. But perhaps Chico State’s hottest player right now is Synchro Bull – thanks to 38 points in the last two games (and averaging 15.3 points over her last four outings), Bull’s season average has jumped to 9.5 points a night…third best on the team.
Cal State East Bay, Chico State’s Friday night opponent, has had a rough first season in the CCAA. The Pioneers are 1-19 overall and just 1-14 in conference play. Their lone win, though, came just nine games ago, when Cal State East Bay beat Cal State L.A. 69-68 in overtime, but the Pioneers came up short in their last outing, losing to Cal State Dominguez Hills 84-69. Cal State East Bay ranks eighth in the CCAA in offense (averaging 58.1 points a game), but last in the conference in team defense (allowing 76.7 points a night) and field goal percentage (31.9 percent). The Pioneers like to hoist the 3-ball (they’ve actually made more 3-pointers than the Wildcats this season), but shoot just 26.8 percent from behind the arc. Cal State East Bay has yet to win a game on the road this season; the Pioneers are 0-8 away from Pioneer Gymnasium.
The Pioneers are led by junior guard Claudia Nelson, whose 13.2 points per game average is seventh best in the CCAA. Nelson also leads the conference with 61 steals. Junior guard Andrea Rodriguez and freshman guard Emily Valenziano have combined for 52 3-pointers this season, while freshman center Lauren Lucchesi is Cal State East Bay’s top rebounder, averaging 8.3 boards a game.
In their only other meeting this season, Chico State beat the Pioneers 78-60 Jan. 9 in Hayward. In that game, four Wildcats (led by Pauline Ferrall’s 14 points) scored in double figures; Chico State’s 64 rebounds on the night were just two shy of the school’s single game record. The Wildcats have won 46 of 57 meetings all-time, dating back to when the Pioneers were known as Cal State Hayward. Chico State has won the last 12 matchups…the Pioneers have not beaten the Wildcats since Jan. 23, 1993.
As they’ve been the past two seasons, UC San Diego (19-1 overall, 14-1 CCAA prior to Friday’s matchup against Cal State Stanislaus) leads the conference and has already clinched a berth in the CCAA Championship Tournament. The Tritons enter the weekend as the top ranked team in the West Region and No. 7 in the country. After suffering their only loss to Humboldt State Jan. 21, UC San Diego enters the weekend on a five game winning streak, including blowout victories last week against Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State L.A. The Tritons entered the week leading the CCAA in scoring (averaging 72.9 points a game) and field goal percentage (43.2 percent), while ranking second in the conference in steals (10.7 a contest) and third in rebounding (40.2 boards a night). The UC San Diego defense, though, is No. 6 in the CCAA in defense, allowing an average of 59.1 points a game. The Tritons have won seven of eight on the road prior to this weekend’s northern California trek.
Sophomore guard Chelsea Carlisle – a Second Team All-CCAA selection last season – is the centerpiece of the UC San Diego offense. Carlisle leads the conference in scoring, averaging 18.1 points a game; she’s also the Tritons’ top 3-point threat, with 46 treys on the year. Senior guard Annette Ilg and junior forward Tiffany Hunter average 11.7 and 11.0 points a night, respectively; Hunter also leads UC San Diego with 7.1 rebounds a game.
All-time, the Tritons have won 12 of the 22 meetings with the Wildcats, including the first meeting this season, a 75-62 victory Jan. 7 at RIMAC Arena in La Jolla. In that game, Carlisle torched the ’Cats for 23 points, while Tiffany Hunter posted a double-double “baker’s dozen” with 13 points and 13 rebounds (Synchro Bull had a team-high 13 for Chico State). UC San Diego has beaten Chico State in six of the last eight meetings.
Tipoff for both the Friday night “Pink Zone” tilt against Cal State East Bay and Saturday’s game versus UC San Diego are slated for 5:30 p.m. Follow all the action with Mike Baca providing the play-by-play live on ESPN 101.7 FM and 1340 AM locally or on the Internet via the Wildcat Athletics website.
