CHICO – After a solid week off to recharge the batteries and evaluate its performance over the season's first month-and-a-half, the Chico State women's basketball team is back at work and ready to resume the 2014-15 campaign. The first weekend of the New Year finds the Wildcats in Southern California for a pair of California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) contests, facing Cal Poly Pomona on Friday and UC San Diego on Saturday. Both games are scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m.
Chico State is looking to get 2015 off to a positive start after falling short in three of its last four December contests. The Wildcats went into the holiday break on the heels of a tough 72-71 home loss Dec. 20 to Cal State Stanislaus, dropping the 'Cats to 4-4 on the season and into a ninth place tie in the CCAA standings with a 1-3 conference record.
The Wildcats are currently ranked sixth among the 12 CCAA teams in offense, scoring an average of 68.6 points a game. Defensively, Chico State is seventh in the conference, giving up an average of 66.1 points a contest.
Individually, Hannah Womack continues to lead the 'Cats' offense. Womack, who has scored in double figures in all eight Chico State games this season – and over 20 in each of the last two contests – is fourth in the CCAA with a 16.0 points per game average. The senior guard is also fifth in the conference in free throw percentage (87.8 percent) and sixth in 3-pointers (16).
Freshman guard Whitney Branham, fresh off of back-to-back 18-point performances, is averaging 8.9 points a game and is second in the CCAA in free throw percentage (90.3 percent).
Junior forward Brooke Bowen has also made huge contributions to the Wildcat attack, averaging 13 points and nine rebounds over the last five games. For the season, Bowen is average just under 10 points a game and is fifth in the CCAA in rebounding, averaging 7.8 board a contest.
Cal Poly Pomona, Chico State's Friday night opponent, is 5-3 on the season and tied for third with Cal State East Bay in the CCAA with a 3-1 conference record. The defending NCAA West Region champions went into 2014-15 as the No. 1 nationally-ranked team in the Women's Basketball Division II Bulletin preseason poll and the favorite to repeat as conference champs in the CCAA preseason coaches' poll, but stumbled out of the gate with two straight losses before reeling off five straight victories. The Broncos' winning streak came to an end Dec. 21 when UC San Diego handed Pomona a 62-50 defeat.
The Broncos' offense is second in the CCAA in scoring, averaging 74.8 points a game. Pomona's defense ranks ninth among the 12 conference teams, surrendering just under 70 points a contest.
Forward Jada Blackwell – last season's conference MVP – is the centerpiece of the Broncos' attack. The senior leads the CCAA in scoring (19.8 points a game) and is 10th in rebounding (6.9 boards a contest). Senior guard Ariel Marsh, a First Team All-CCAA selection in 2013-14, is fifth in the conference in scoring (15.5 points a game) and third in 3-point field goals (20). Another All-CCAA performer from a year ago, senior forward Ashley Lovett, is sixth in the conference in rebounding, averaging 7.4 boards a contest.
Chico State beat Pomona twice in three tries last season, but the Broncos' lone win (89-80 on March 15) knocked the Wildcats out of the NCAA Championship Tournament. The 'Cats hold a slim 23-22 lead in the all-time series between the two teams.
UC San Diego, which takes on the Wildcats following its Friday contest against Cal State Stanislaus, is 4-5 heading into the weekend but tied for fifth in the CCAA with a 2-2 conference record. The Tritons split their last two contests, both against Pomona: after dropping an 82-71 decision Dec. 12, UC San Diego came back to beat the Broncos 62-50 on Dec. 21.
The Tritons are fifth among CCAA teams in scoring, averaging 69.6 points a game. UC San Diego's defense, though, is one of the most porous in the conference, ranking 10th by giving up an average of 70.1 points a contest.
The Tritons are led by senior guard and 2013-14 All-CCAA First Teamer Miranda Seto, who is averaging 14.7 points a game and ranks among the conference's top 10 3-point shooters. Junior forward Farrah Shokoor, the reigning CCAA Player of the Week on the strength of her 28-point, 15-rebound performance Dec. 21 vs. Pomona, averages 13.7 points a game while leading the conference in rebounding (12.0 boards a contest).
Chico State and UC San Diego split the season series in 2013-14, while in the 33 all-time meetings, the Tritons hold a 21-12 advantage over the Wildcats.
Fans can follow the action of both games with Mike Baca providing the play-by-play locally on Newstalk 1290 KPAY-AM and on the Internet via the Wildcat Athletics website. Live Stats and live streaming video for each contest will also be available.
