CARSON – The effort was certainly there. The Chico State women's basketball team hustled, pressured on defense, and for the first 20 minutes, held its own on the boards Friday night against a talented Cal State Dominguez Hills squad. The offense – which had averaged over 71 points a game heading into the contest – was not, however, as the 'Cats managed just 22 first half points and were outscored 39-20 in the second period to fall to the Toros 62-42 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) conference opener at the Torodome.
Friday's loss dropped Chico State to 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the CCAA, while Cal State Dominguez Hills improved to 4-3 on the season and 1-0 in conference play. The 'Cats shot just 26.8 percent from the field Friday, and their 42 points represented the lowest single-game score for a Chico State women's basketball team since the Wildcats were held to 38 points by UC San Diego way back on Jan. 24, 2009.
Brooke Bowen topped the 'Cats on the stat sheet, scoring a career-high 13 points to go along with a game-high nine rebounds. Hannah Womack scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half, while Natalie Valenzuela chipped in with six points. Michelle Walker pulled down eight rebounds for the Wildcats in the losing effort.
Both offenses were slow to produce in the opening half – Dominguez Hills missed nine of its first 10 shots, while Chico State started 0-for-8 and didn't knock down its first field goal until seven minutes into the contest. The Toros were up 9-5 when Womack converted a 3-point play and Walker followed with a layup to give the Wildcats a 10-9 lead. Dominguez Hills used a pair of free throws to briefly go back on top, but the 'Cats answered with two Bowen foul shots, a 3-point play by Womack and a Chanelle Di Croce layup to regain the lead 17-11. Chico State still held an 18-13 advantage with 5:46 left in the period, but could muster just two buckets the rest of the half as the Toros outscored the Wildcats 10-4 to take a 23-22 lead into intermission.
The Toros scored the first basket of the second half and quickly built a double-digit lead at 38-28. A Bowen layup made it an eight-point contest, but Dominguez Hills responded with a 3-point bucket and a pair of three throws to hike its advantage to 13. The Wildcats and Toros traded baskets for the next several minutes, but the Chico State offense went cold down the stretch, held without a field goal as Dominguez Hills salted the game away with a 12-2 run in the final 8:39 to post the 62-42 victory.
The Wildcats continue their Southern California road trip Saturday when they go head-to-head with Cal State L.A. (2-3, 1-0 CCAA) at the Eagles' Nest, with tipoff scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Mike Baca will provide the play-by-play locally on Newstalk 1290-AM KPAY and on the Internet via the Wildcat Athletics website. Live Stats and live video streaming are also available online.
