CHICO – The Chico State women’s basketball team has already made the 2012-13 season a memorable one, winning the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) title for the first time in five years. But now with the bar set high, the Wildcats are expecting their conference crown to serve as a springboard to even bigger accomplishments. The ’Cats, the No. 15 team in the nation and third in the NCAA West Region rankings, get postseason play underway Tuesday night at Acker Gym, hosting San Francisco State in the opening round of the CCAA Championship Tournament. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.

Tickets for the game are available at the Acker Gym box office beginning at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Ticket prices are: $10 reserved, $8 general admission, $4 seniors, $3 students (including Chico State), and kids 2 and younger are free. 

Chico State enters postseason play with a 22-4 overall record and fresh off of road wins over Cal State East Bay and Cal State Monterey Bay, and with UC San Diego falling in its regular season finale, the Wildcats captured outright the program’s first CCAA title since 2007-08.

As the No. 1 seed in the CCAA Championship Tournament, the ’Cats earned a first round home game for the first time in three seasons. Interestingly, Chico State goes into the contest having played slightly better away from Acker Gym this season, going 10-3 at home while winning 12 of 13 on the road.

The winner of Tuesday’s Wildcat-Gator matchup will advance to Friday’s tournament semifinals, taking place at a neutral site, the Citizen’s Business Bank Arena in Ontario.

The Wildcats face a San Francisco State squad that secured the No. 8 seed in the CCAA Championship Tournament despite losing seven of its last 10 games. The Gators (12-14 overall) reached the postseason in a big way, stunning UC San Diego 53-50 last Saturday in La Jolla. San Francisco State comes into Chico a respectable 7-7 on the road this season.

Chico State leads all CCAA teams in scoring, averaging 69.1 points a game, but go up the fourth best defense in the conference – San Francisco State allows just 56.4 points a contest. The Wildcats feature a variety of offensive options, employing four of the conference’s top 20 scorers – Jazmine Miller (eighth in the CCAA, averaging 12.7 points a game), Monnie Davidson-Mays (16th, 10.3 ppg), Hannah Womack (18th, 10.0 ppg) and McKenzie Dalthorp (20th, 9.5 ppg). Miller and Womack are two of the top 3-point shooters in the CCAA, having buried a combined 99 treys on the season.

San Francisco State is led by three very talented players. Sophomore forward Farrah Shokoor is 10th in the nation in steals (averaging 3.5 a game) and also tops the Gators in scoring (11.6 ppg), rebounds (7.5 a contest) and assists (1.96 a night). Junior guard Angela Van Sickel averages 11.5 points a game and is tied for second in the CCAA with 55 3-pointers, while senior guard Nicole Hicks contributes 9.5 points and 4.9 rebounds a night.

Chico State swept the regular season series between the two teams. Despite 27 points from Van Sickel, the Wildcats beat the Gators 76-60 Jan. 5 in San Francisco, then on Feb. 8 survived a furious San Francisco State rally to register a 54-53 win at Acker Gym. The ’Cats have won the last nine meets with the Gators and hold a 67-20 advantage in the all-time series.

The last time Chico State hosted a CCAA Championship Tournament game, its opponent was San Francisco State. The Wildcats bested the Gators 72-62 Mar. 2, 2010 at Acker Gym.

Tuesday’s game will be broadcast live locally with Mike Baca providing the play-by-play on Newstalk 1290 AM KPAY, as well as being simulcast on the internet via the Wildcat Athletics website. Live Stats will also be available.


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CLICK HERE for Live Stats


2012-13 CCAA Championship Tournament

FIRST ROUND - Tuesday, March 5 (host sites)
Time           Matchup       
5:30 p.m.    No. 8 San Francisco State at No. 1 Chico State
7 p.m.         No. 7 Cal State San Bernardino at No. 2 UC San Diego
7 p.m.         No. 6 Cal Poly Pomona at No. 3 Cal State Monterey Bay
7 p.m.         No. 5 Cal State East Bay at No. 4 Cal State L.A.

SEMIFINALS - Friday, March 8 (Citizens Bank Arena - Ontario)
Time           Matchup       
12:00 p.m.  Highest remaining seed vs. Lowest remaining seed
2:30 p.m.    2nd Highest remaining seed vs. 2nd Lowest remaining seed

CHAMPIONSHIP - Saturday, March 9 (Citizens Bank Arena - Ontario)
Time          Matchup       
5 p.m.        Semifinal winners

CCAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament Central