A brand-new season of Chico State women's basketball officially gets underway this weekend, as the Wildcats travel to San Rafael for the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA)/PacWest Challenge. The 'Cats face host school Dominican Friday at 4 p.m., followed by a Saturday showdown with Notre Dame de Namur at 12 p.m., with both games taking place at the Conlan Center on the campus of Dominican University.
Fans can follow Friday's action online with Live Stats and Mike Wessel's live play-by-play, available through the Wildcat Athletics website. Saturday Brian Hudson will be behind the microphone online and locally on Newstalk 1290-AM KPAY.
Chico State lifts the lid on the 2018–19 campaign after playing three exhibition games—all against Division I opponents. The 'Cats wrapped up exhibition play last Saturday with an 85-49 loss to Idaho State.
The Wildcats not only want to start off the season with a pair of wins this weekend, but head coach Brian Fogel's squad would love to exact some revenge on both Dominican and Notre Dame de Namur, which handed Chico State back-to-back losses to open the 2017–18 campaign.
Friday, the Wildcats face a Dominican team that finished 18-12 last season and reached the Pacific West Conference Championship Tournament final. The Penguins are led by senior All-America guard Natalie Diaz, who averaged 24 points and nine rebounds a game in 2017–18. Diaz has already been selected by conference coaches as the PacWest's preseason Player of the Year.
Dominican nipped Chico State 83-81 last November in the season opener for both teams. All-time, the Wildcats and Penguins have split their six meetings dating back to 2009.
Notre Dame de Namur squares off with the 'Cats Saturday following the Argonauts' 2018–19 opener Friday against Sonoma State. Notre Dame de Namur split two prior exhibition games in preparation for regular season play, beating Cal Maritime October 23 and falling to Menlo College on November 1.
The Argonauts posted an 11-17 record in 2017–18 and tied for ninth place in the PacWest with an 8-12 conference mark. This year's Notre Dame de Namur squad will be playing without its two leading scorers from last season, and Argonauts' men's basketball coach George Puou is now overseeing the women's program as well.
Notre Dame de Namur beat Chico State for the first time ever last season, shading the Wildcats 82-80 November 11 in the 2017 CCAA/PacWest Challenge. The 'Cats hold a sizeable edge in the all-time series, topping the Argonauts in 19 of 20 meetings since 1983.
