Box Score CHICO – Emotion was riding high prior to Saturday’s Chico State-Cal State L.A. women’s basketball game, as the Acker Gym faithful gathered on Senior Night to salute Wildcats Synchro Bull, Sam Messersmith and Monnie Davidson-Mays. But once the ball was put in play, it was the visiting Golden Eagles who were riding high, scoring 52 in the second half and riding a career-high 33 point performance by Tessondra Williams to knock off the No. 13 ’Cats 77-63.
The loss was a costly one for Chico State, which dropped to 20-4 on the season and back into a first place tie with UC San Diego in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). By falling to Cal State L.A., the Wildcats will be hard pressed to maintain the No. 2 spot in the NCAA West Region rankings when the next top 10 installment is released next Wednesday. The Golden Eagles improved to 17-10 overall and, at 12-8 in conference play, are still in the mix to host a first round game in the upcoming CCAA Championship Tournament.
Davidson-Mays was the lone Wildcat scoring in double figures Saturday, pouring in 17 points while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. McKenzie Dalthorp contributed nine points, and Jazmine Miller hit a pair of 3-pointers to finish with eight.
Ironically, it took the first 10 minutes of the contest for the CCAA’s top two scoring teams to get their offenses untracked. Down 10-9, Chico State ripped off 10 unanswered points – highlighted by a Miller 3-pointer and layups by Bull, Dalthorp and Courtney Hamilton – to grab a 19-10 lead. The Wildcat defense sparkled in the first half, holding Cal State L.A. scoreless for over eight minutes, but the Golden Eagles put together a 15-7 run to conclude the period, and the ’Cats had to be content with a 26-25 halftime lead.
Cal State L.A. scored the first four points of the second half to go back up 29-26, but Annie Ward followed a 3-pointer with a layup to put Chico State back on top. A Richelle Najera jumper snapped a 31-all tie and gave the Golden Eagles a lead it would never relinquish. The Wildcats whittled the deficit down to a bucket on several occasions, but Cal State L.A. – with Williams hitting seven of her 12 second half shots – began to pull away with a little over five minutes to go. The Golden Eagles took a 67-56 lead late in the contest, forcing the ’Cats to hoist several hurried 3-pointers down the stretch and foul to try to get the ball back. As a result, Chico State fell further behind, with Cal State L.A. coasting to the 77-63 victory.
The Wildcats wrap up the regular season next Thursday and Friday, with two big challenges to their CCAA regular season championship aspirations. Thursday the ’Cats will be in Hayward to take on the red-hot Cal State East Bay Pioneers, followed by a Friday tilt against conference power Cal State Monterey Bay – one of only three teams to have beaten Chico State this season. Tip off for both games are scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
