SAN BERNARDINO – In college basketball, the second game of a back-to-back weekend road trip is always the most difficult. The Chico State women's basketball team had gone full throttle Friday night in a loss to top-ranked UC San Diego, but the Wildcats, after a slow start Saturday, were able to summon what little was left in their collective gas tank and outscore Cal State San Bernardino 8-1 in the final three minutes and grind out a 64-58 victory over the Coyotes at Coussoulis Arena.
With the win, Chico State improved to 13-9 on the season and 10-8 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), moving the 'Cats to within a game of Cal Poly Pomona for fifth place in the conference standings. Cal State San Bernardino saw its three-game winning streak come to an end Saturday to fall to 8-14 overall and 7-11 in CCAA play.
Synchro Bull led the way for the Wildcats, posting her first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Jazmine Miller hit a career-high four 3-pointers to finish with 14 points to go along with eight rebounds. Chico State dominated the boards all evening, outrebounding Cal State San Bernardino 51-33. Angela Streets of the Coyotes led all scorers with 18 points.
In a poor-shooting first half that saw both teams hit less than 35 percent of their field goal attempts, Chico State used two 3-pointers by Miller to grab an early 6-5 lead. San Bernardino scored six of the next eight points to go up 11-8, but the Wildcats used a Ymonne Davidson-Mays basket and a pair of Bull layups to rip off a 6-0 run and jump back on top 14-11. It was another three-and-a-half minutes before the 'Cats scored again, when Miller's third 3-pointer of the period erased a one-point deficit and gave Chico State a 17-15 lead. An Angela Streets 3-pointer briefly put San Bernardino back in front, but Natasha Smith answered with a trey with 1:11 left in the period that turned out to be the final score of the half, giving the Wildcats a 24-22 lead at intermission.
Chico State was still up a deuce early in the second half before San Bernardino went on an 8-2 run to go ahead 36-32. The Wildcat defense then clamped down, holding the Coyotes without a field goal for the next seven minutes, while the offense reeled off 10 unanswered points – Bull and Caressa Williams contributed four apiece during the run – to take a 48-43 lead with six minutes to play. San Bernardino battled back, and a 3-point play by Brianna Baker put the Coyotes up 57-56 with 3:03 remaining. But the 'Cats' defense promptly took over the contest, as San Bernardino could not sink a field goal for the rest of the game. The Wildcats took the lead for good with a 7-0 run, highlighted by another Miller 3-pointer and a jumper by Bull, and Chico State came away with the 64-58 victory to sweep the regular season series.
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Chico State will return to southern California next weekend, taking on Cal State L.A. on Friday and Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday. Both games are scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m.
