A return to Acker Gym was just what the Chico State women's basketball team needed to break a three-game skid. The Wildcats raced to a 10-0 lead and never trailed as they beat Cal State Monterey Bay 77-53 on Thursday night.
 
Whitney Branham scored 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting, Kayla Taylor had 13 points and equaled a career high with eight rebounds, and Madison Wong finished with 11 points and seven assists as the Wildcats won for the ninth time in tries at Acker Gym this season.
 
The victory improved Chico State to 11-9 overall and 9-7 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). The Wildcats' win, coupled with Humboldt State's 76-73 victory Thursday over Cal State East Bay, moves Chico State past the Pioneers and into a tie with Cal State LA for fourth place in the conference standings.  
 
The Otters dropped to 6-16 overall and 5-12 in the CCAA.
 
Reserves Christine Golfo with 12 points and Aubri Smith's 11 led Cal State Monterey Bay.
 
Branham's big scoring night (the ninth time this season she's tallied 20 or more) pushed her past the 1,312 points of Michelle Vanden Bosch (1993-97) and the 1,327 of Audi Spencer (2004-08) on the program's all-time points list. Branham's 23 points on Thursday gives her with 1,332 in her career, good for seventh in Wildcat history. The 1,371 points from Natasha Smith (2007–10, 11–12) is next for the senior, who already is No. 2 for career 3s with 186, just 10 behind Spencer's 196. 
 
The Wildcats opened the game with the 10-0 run as two Taylor jumpers sandwiched a pair of layups from Branham before Jo Paine added a jumper for their first double-digit lead of the night. It would not their last.
 
The Otters got on the scoreboard with two Courtney Keaton free throws, but Chico State kept making shots. Wong hit a pair of 3-pointers around an Emily Hardin 3 that was Cal State Monterey Bay's first made field goal of the night.
 
A trey courtesy of Aqeelah Williams started a 9-0 run that stretched into the second quarter for the Wildcats. Taylor hit a layup before Shay Stark and Branham made two free throws each that left Chico State ahead 25-7.
 
A Hannah Washington layup had the Wildcats ahead 30-11 with 3:41 left in the period.
Washington finished with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting. McKena Barker had seven rebounds, and Shay Stark added four assists.
 
Wong's third 3-pointer of the half gave Chico State its first 20-point lead at 33-13 with 1:45 left before the Wildcats took a 35-17 advantage into the break.
 
The Wildcats made 11 of 23 field goals in the half for 47.8 percent while the Otters were at 13.3 percent on 4-of-30 shooting. 
 
Branham scored Chico State's first eight points of the second half, including two 3s that stretched the margin to 43-20.
 
A 6-0 spurt on Williams' second 3, a Washington free throw and a layup from Taylor on Wong's sixth assist of the night had Chico State ahead 53-25 with 4:44 left in the third quarter.
 
The Otters would get no closer than 22 the rest of the night.
 
Another 6-0 run, this one in the fourth quarter, had Branham, Wong and Washington contributing baskets.
 
A Brynn Thoming 3 gave Wong seven assists on the night, one shy of her career high.
 
The Wildcats outscored Monterey Bay 26-14 in the paint and scored 13 points off turnovers to the Otters' seven.
 
Chico State returns to action at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Acker Gym with Cal State East Bay (13-10 overall, 9-8 CCAA) the opponent. The Wildcats will look to avenge a 79-69 loss to the Pioneers back on December 16 in Hayward.