BELMONT – Injuries that sidelined a pair of key players hampered the efforts of the Chico State women's basketball team in its 2016–17 season opener Friday afternoon against Dominican University. But 35 percent shooting and 27 turnovers ultimately sealed the Wildcats' fate, as the Penguins downed Chico State 80–67 at Walter Gleason Gymnasium in the California Collegiate Athletic Association/Pacific West Challenge.
Friday's loss snapped a streak of 17 straight season-opening victories for the Wildcats dating back to 1999.
Natalie Valenzuela and McKena Barker each registered a double-double for the Wildcats. Valenzuela racked up 14 points to go along with 10 rebounds and four blocked shots, while Barker contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds. Whitney Branham tallied 11 points, with Michelle Townsend adding 10 points and five rebounds.
The Wildcats stumbled out of the blocks in the first quarter, missing 11 of their first 12 shots and committing seven turnovers. Chico State was 0-for-8 from the field before Barker converted a layup, and a Townsend jumper and a pair of free throws later in the period pulled the 'Cats to within 16-10. A 3-pointer by Dominican's Carly Holboke gave the Penguins a 19-10 lead heading into the second quarter.
Dominican scored the first point of the period, but Chico State answered with a 10–0 run—highlighted by a Branham 3-pointer and a Tyler Prange layup—to knot up the contest at 20-apiece. The Penguins went back up 26–20, only to see the Wildcats answer with a Lauren Lete 3-pointer and layups by Branham and Valenzuela to go out in front 27–26. The lead was short-lived, though, as Dominican outscored the 'Cats 13–6 over the final 4:30 to go into halftime with a 39–33 advantage.
A Branham 3-pointer early in the third quarter cut Dominican's advantage to 41–36, but for the rest of the period it was all Penguins. Helped out by 13 Wildcat turnovers, Dominican took control of the contest with a 24–11 run to extend its lead to 18 to close out the quarter.
Trailing 65–47 going into the fourth period, Chico State wasn't able to generate much offense as the Penguins stretched their lead to 78–53 with 5:30 to play. The Wildcats closed out the game with a 14–2 run—Prange and Sherise Porchia each knocking down a 3-pointer and Valenzuela adding a layup and three-point play—but it was far too little and far too late, as Dominican ran out the clock to win by a final of 80–67.
Chico State is back in action Saturday, closing out the CCAA/PacWest Challenge with a 3 p.m. matchup against host school Notre Dame de Namur. Mitch Cox will provide the play-by-play with an Internet-only broadcast via the Wildcat Athletics website. Live Stats and live streaming video are also available online.
