Box Score CHICO – The game was not exactly a thing of beauty – 27 turnovers will attest to that. But when the Chico State women’s basketball team held onto the ball, they were nearly unstoppable in Tuesday’s CCAA Championship Tournament opener against San Francisco State. The Wildcats shot nearly 56 percent from the field, and combined with a dynamic defense that forced 21 turnovers and held the Gators to just 18 second half points, rolled to a 62-49 win at Acker Gym to move on to Friday’s tournament semifinals for the five time in six years.
Chico State, the top seed in the CCAA Championship Tournament, will face No. 4 Cal State L.A. (20-10 on the season) Friday at 12 p.m. at Citizen’s Business Bank Arena in Ontario.
The Wildcats, the No. 14 team in the nation and third in the NCAA West Region rankings, improved their overall record to 23-4 and beat San Francisco State for the third time this season. The loss ended the 2012-13 campaign for the Gators, who finish with a 12-15 record.
Chico State featured a balanced scoring attack in Tuesday’s win. Hannah Womack, the reigning CCAA Player of the Week, buried three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points, matching Synchro Bull’s 13 on the night. Monnie Davidson-Mays excelled in all areas, scoring 11 points, dishing out a career-high eight assists and grabbing six rebounds. Courtney Hamilton and McKenzie also contributed to the Wildcat attack with eight points apiece. Lauren Varney and Angela Van Sickel each scored 11 points to lead San Francisco State.
The Wildcats spotted the Gators the first two points of the contest, and then never trailed again, building their first half lead to as many as 12 points. But a dozen Chico State turnovers allowed San Francisco State to hang around, and despite a monster first half by Davidson-Mays (nine points, seven assists and five boards) and the ’Cats shooting a sizzling 65.2 percent from the field, the Gators closed out the period on an 11-6 run to pull to within 37-31 at halftime.
The Chico State defense took over in the second half, limiting San Francisco State to just six field goals over the final 20 minutes. Jazmine Miller’s 3-pointer midway through the period put the Wildcats up 51-42, but the Gators were still able to close the gap and cut the deficit to five with 4:03 remaining. But that would be as close as San Francisco State would come – the Gators were held without a bucket for the remainder of the game, allowing the ’Cats to slowly pull away. Bull hit a jumper to make the score 55-48, then Hamilton, Womack and Bull combined to sink seven free throws down the stretch (the Wildcats hit a collective 18 of 20 on the night) to seal the deal and walk away with the 62-49 victory, holding an opponent to under 50 points for the sixth time this season.
Now the ’Cats turn their attention to Friday’s CCAA Championship Tournament semifinal game against Cal State L.A. The Wildcats and Golden Eagles split the regular season series, with Cal State L.A. handing Chico State its most recent loss (77-63 Feb. 23 at Acker Gym). The winner of the Wildcats-Golden Eagles game will play the winner of No. 2 seed UC San Diego and No. 3 Cal State Monterey Bay Saturday at 5 p.m. for the conference tournament championship and an automatic berth in the upcoming NCAA Championship Tournament.
