Whitney Branham scored 11 of her career-high 25 points in the fourth quarter as the Chico State women's basketball team bounced back from a frustrating third quarter to beat Western Oregon 70–67 on the opening night of the Carl's Jr. Coslet Classic in Acker Gym Friday.
 
The Wildcats built a 15-point lead early, only to see Western Oregon whittle away at that that lead methodically before taking a five-point lead into the fourth quarter.
 
Sherise Porchia and Branham hit consecutive threes to give the Wildcats the lead back, however. And Branham's three-point play with 5:50 left broke a 60-60 deadlock and gave Chico State the lead for good.
 

Buckets by Jo Paine and McKena Barker both stretched the advantage to three late in the game, as did Branham's two free throws with 19 seconds left.
 
Western Oregon's Shelby Snook, who scored 25 points, missed a three-pointer that would have tied the game on the Wolves' last possession.
 
Chico State improved to 3-1 with its third straight victory. The Wildcats will face Dixie State (0-4) in the tournament finale tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. Western Oregon, off to a nice start under Head Coach Holli Howard-Carpenter–a former Chico State assistant–dipped to 2-1. Western Oregon will take on Sonoma State (3-0) in Saturday's first game at 5:30.
 
Paine, a transfer from Clackamas Community College, finished with 11 points and seven rebounds in her home debut. Barker had eight points and 10 rebounds. Natalie Valenzuela finished with eight points and two blocked shot.
 
Chico State's bench accounted for 19 of its 36 first-half points. True freshman Madison Wong grabbed and rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup immediately after subbing in.
 
Tyler Prange railed a 3-pointer to spark a 9-0 run to end the first quarter. Paine scored twice inside during the run (once assisted by Prange), and Lauren Lete–another player making her home debut–hit a jumper in the lane to make it 19-7 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Branham's triple to start the second stanza stretched the lead to 22-7. It was the first of three times the Wildcats led by 15. But the Wolves closed the half on a 16-8 run to get back within striking distance.
 
Strike they did in the third quarter. Snook scored 15 points in the third quarter as the Wolves roared into the lead by outscoring Chico State 25-13.
 
Branham's three coming out of the break cut the Wildcats' deficit to two. They trailed by four when Valenzuela found Porchia for a 3-pointer to end a nice sequence of offense. And after a Western Oregon turnover, Porchia passed to Branham for a 3-pointer to put the Wildcats back into the lead at 60-58. They never trailed again.