ARCATA—Whitney Branham went bonkers again, this time in front of a national ESPN3 audience, scoring 31 points to lead the Chico State women's basketball team to a 70–58 win in its California Collegiate Athletic Association opener against Humboldt State Saturday night at Lumberjack Arena.
 
Branham opened the season with 27 and 21-point games last weekend. The 27-point effort was a career high before Saturday night's performance. But the points aren't the point for Branham. The point is to win. And Saturday she and the Wildcats got what they wanted.
 
"It was good to close that one out," said Branham. "We've been the team that's had to learn a hard lesson in the first two games this season. We want to be the team that hands out the lessons from here on out."
 
Branham hit her first four shots, scoring 10 of Chico State's first 11 points, and never cooled off. She finished 11-for-15 from the field, 7-for-10 from 3-point range, and hit both of her free throws in scoring the most points by a Wildcat since Natasha Smith dropped 31 on the Lumberjacks in Arcata on Feb. 20, 2010.
 
Kayla Taylor pitched in nine points, six rebounds, and three assists for the Wildcats. Madison Wong hit a number of free throws to seal the win and finished with eight points and four assists. Freshman Hannah Washington had her best game yet, finishing with six points, seven rebounds, and two steals.
 
Humboldt State jumped out to an 8–3 lead. That was all it took for Branham to shift into gear. She hit her first four shots: a pair of 3-pointers and a pair of crafty layups after knifing into the lane.
 
The Wildcats never trailed again. Branham finished with 17 points in the first half and the Chico State defense forced 10 turnovers in the half, turning them into 15 points and a 32–26 lead.
 
Vanessa Holland, a true freshman from Arcata, hit a triple with 7:40 left in the third quarter to give them their biggest lead to that point at nine. A Branham three just over a minute later made it 40–30.
 
She hit another triple with 4:51 to go in the third to stretch the lead to 11 before Humboldt State began to chip away.
 
The lead was down to four with just over five minutes left when Branham hit a catch-and-shoot 3 to give the Wildcats some breathing room. It was down to three with 2:53 to go before Branham buried her seventh 3-pointer of the game to push Chico State's lead to 59–53.
 
Wong's 3-pointer a minute later stretched the lead back to nine and it never dipped below seven after that.
 
The Wildcats will wade back into non-conference play in their home opener Wednesday night at 5:30 against Holy Names.