The Chico State women's basketball team succeeded in evening its season series with Cal State San Bernardino Friday at Acker Gym—but the visiting Coyotes definitely made the Wildcats work for it. Leading by as many as 14 points late in the third quarter, the 'Cats saw their advantage vanish in the final period. Brian Fogel's squad came through in the clutch, however, holding San Bernardino to just four points in the last 4:45 of the contest and outscore the Coyotes 13-4 down the stretch to register a 63-54 win.
Friday's victory improved Chico State's season record to 12-6 and moved the Wildcats into a tie for fifth place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings with a 7-5 conference mark. The 'Cats have won six in a row at home and nine of 10 playing in the friendly confines of Acker Gym.
Cal State San Bernardino dropped its second straight decision to slip to 9-6 overall and 6-5 in CCAA play.
Whitney Branham scored 10 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Wildcat attack. Kayla Taylor had 13 points and pulled down six rebounds on the night, with McKena Barker contributing eight points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Sammy DeHart came off the 'Cats' bench to deliver an eight point, three rebound performance.
The Wildcats' offense took a while to get warmed up, missing 13 of their first 15 shots in the opening quarter as San Bernardino jumped out to a 12-8 lead. DeHart sank four straight free throws to keep the 'Cats close, and Taylor ended the period by converting a three-point play put Chico State on top 13-12 heading into the second quarter.
The Coyotes hit the first bucket of the period to briefly regain the lead, but the Wildcats answered with an impressive 15-3 run—Wong and Branham each connected on 3-pointers, with Taylor, DeHart and Sherise Porchia registering a bucket to give Chico State an 11-point advantage. The Wildcats went into half still up big, 28-19.
The 'Cats' lead hovered around the 10-point mark for most of the third quarter before a Michelle Townsend trey gave Chico State its biggest lead of the night at 46-32. San Bernardino refused to go away quietly, finishing the period on a 6-0 run, then scoring 12 of the first 16 points in the fourth quarter to knot up the contest at 50-apiece with 4:45 remaining.
The Wildcats defense helped right the ship by holding San Bernardino to just one field goal the rest of the way, and thanks to a Tyler Prange 3-pointer and eight points from Branham in the waning minutes, Chico State was able to safely pull away and lock down the hard-earned 63-54 victory.
The Wildcats wrap up the weekend with a big matchup Saturday at Acker Gym against conference leader UC San Diego (15-3, 11-1 CCAA). Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
