There's no better feeling than playing your first home game of the season and treating the fans to a show. The Chico State women's basketball team, after opening the 2019–20 campaign on the road last weekend, gave the Wildcat faithful plenty of reasons to smile Tuesday night, using a big third quarter to pull away from visiting Holy Names and score a convincing 71-47 victory over the Hawks in non-conference action at Acker Gym.
With the win, Chico State improved to 2-1 on the young season, while Holy Names dropped its season-opening contest.
Maddy Wong continued to sizzle from beyond the 3-point arc. After knocking down nine treys at last weekend's CCAA/PacWest Challenge, the senior buried five more on her home floor Tuesday en route to scoring a game-high 16 points. Haley Ison registered a career-high 12 points and six rebounds in just 14 minutes of action, while Myli Martinez connected for a pair of 3-pointers to finish with eight points. Hannah Washington pulled down a career-best 11 rebounds and blocked two shots as the Wildcats held Holy Names to just 30 percent shooting on the evening.
Wong got the 'Cats going with a 3-pointer early in the contest, but it was actually Holy Names that jumped out to a 10-6 first quarter lead. Chico State closed out the period on an 8-3 run fueled by another 3-pointer by Wong and a layup by Washington, giving the Wildcats a 14-13 advantage heading into the second quarter.
Chico State maintained momentum, scoring the first seven points of the second quarter to go up 21-13. Holy Names was able to whittle the deficit to six, but the Wildcats responded with six unanswered points—Ison drained a jumper and a pair of free throws, and Mikaila Wegenke hit a mid-range jumper—to increase their lead to 35-23. The Hawks grabbed the final three points of the period, cutting the 'Cats' advantage to 35-26 at halftime.
The Wildcats took command of the contest in the third quarter. With the score 39-31, Chico State ripped off a 17-4 run over the final six minutes of the period, highlighted by a Daisha Abdelkader three-point play, two 3-pointers by Martinez, and three buckets by Shay Stark to push Chico State's lead to 56-35.
The 'Cats maintained their big lead throughout the fourth quarter, holding Holy Names to just four field goals while continuing to push the envelope on offense. Brynn Thoming scored five points in the period, Ison added another four to her night's scoring total, and Wong delivered her final three of the night, as the Wildcats won going away 71-47.
Chico State is back in action this weekend, traveling to Rohnert Park to take part in the CCAA/GNAC Challenge. Friday the 'Cats will square off with Concordia (Ore.), and take on Western Oregon on Saturday. Both games tip off at 12 noon.
