CHICO – The Chico State women’s basketball team didn’t enjoy a particularly good shooting night Friday, but even though the buckets were a little hard to come by, the Wildcats still led from wire-to-wire thanks to a stifling defense that held visiting Cal State San Bernardino – which scored 80 points in its previous game – to just 26 percent shooting. Synchro Bull registered her sixth straight double-digit scoring performance as the ’Cats topped the Coyotes 53-39 at Acker Gym.
Chico State improved to 7-4 on the season with Friday’s victory, and remain in sole possession of sixth place in the California Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAA) with a 4-3 conference record. The 39 points allowed was the Wildcats’ best single-game defensive performance since holding Cal State Dominguez Hills to 34 points on Jan. 23, 2010, and it was also the lowest offensive output for Cal State San Bernardino in nearly five years. Friday’s loss dropped the Coyotes to 3-8 overall and 2-5 in CCAA play.
Bull led the Wildcats with 13 points to go along with eight rebounds, two assists and a steal. Natasha Smith, Courtney Hamilton and Ymonne Davidson-Mays each contributed seven points to the Chico State attack, while McKenzie Dalthorp collected a team-high nine rebounds. Cal State San Bernardino’s Eliza Dy led all scorers with 18 points; Angela Streets posted a double-double for the Coyotes with 10 points and 11 rebounds but shot just 2-for-15 from the field.
Chico State scored the opening four points of the contest, and while holding San Bernardino to just two field goals in the first 11 minutes, slowly built a 15-7 lead. The Coyotes pulled to with 17-14, but the Wildcats ripped off the next nine points – highlighted by two buckets by Bull and a Smith 3-pointer – to go up 26-14. A Shayna Stuart layup completed the first half scoring, and Chico State went into intermission with a 26-16 lead.
Baskets by Dalthorp and Bull plus a Courtney Harrison 3-pointer pushed the Wildcats’ advantage to 11 at 33-22 with 13:46 to play. San Bernardino answered by holding Chico State to just a pair of field goals over the next seven minutes, allowing the Coyotes to creep to within two with 6:02 to go. But with the score 37-35, the ’Cats put the game out of reach by scoring 16 of the next 18 points – Samantha Messersmith came off the bench to get the ball rolling with a layup and a pair of free throws, and Jazmine Miller finished the run with back-to-back 3-pointers to give Chico State a comfortable 53-37 lead. When the final horn sounded, the Wildcats walked away with the 53-39 victory.
BOX SCORE
Chico State returns to action Saturday, welcoming the No. 3 team in the country, UC San Diego, to Acker Gym. The Tritons, 13-0 on the season and sitting atop the CCAA conference standings, roll into Chico following a convincing 83-61 victory Friday over Cal State Stanislaus. Saturday’s contest is scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m.; the game will be broadcast locally on Newstalk 1290-AM KPAY.
Mike Baca’s call along with
Live Stats can be accessed through the Wildcat Athletics website.
