SEASIDE—Heading into Saturday afternoon's road tilt with Cal State Monterey Bay, the Chico State women's basketball team needed a big-time bounce-back performance to erase the sting of Thursday's disappointing overtime loss to Cal State East Bay. The Wildcats not only came through with a convincing victory over the host Otters, but saw their lone senior, Maddy Wong, become the program's all-time career 3-point leader in a 79-52 win at The Kelp Bed in Seaside.
Wong buried five treys on the day to give her 209 3-pointers as a Wildcat, moving the Elk Grove product past former teammate Whitney Branham as the No. 1 3-point shooter in Chico State history. Wong finished the game with a team-high 17 points.
Chico State boosted its season record to 12-8 with Saturday's win, and improve to 8-6 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Cal State Monterey Bay dropped its third straight decision to slip to 4-13 overall and 4-11 in conference play.
While Wong was enjoying a day of historic proportions, several other Wildcats put up big numbers Saturday. Hannah Washington tallied 13 points and eight rebounds, with Mikaila Wegenke contributing 12 points and five boards. Myli Martinez drained a pair of 3-pointers and finished with nine points, while Bailey Jones came off the bench to pour in a career-high eight points. Brynn Thoming and Shay Stark each scored seven points as Chico State shot 50 percent (29-for-58) from the field and 44.4 percent (8-for-18) from 3-point range.
Two 3-pointers by Wong sparked the Wildcats in the opening minutes of the first quarter, as Chico State jumped out to a 10-5 lead. Cal State Monterey Bay used a 5-0 mini-run to knot up the contest, but jumpers by Stark and Haley Ison put the 'Cats back in front. With the score tied at 14-all, Washington hit a pair of free throws, Jones dropped in a layup, and Wegenke hit a long jumper as the buzzer sounded to give the Wildcats a 20-16 lead entering the second quarter.
Chico State started the period on a 7-2 run—Wong buried another 3-pointer, and Wegenke delivered back-to-back layups—to extend the Wildcats' advantage to 27-18. Following an Otters basket, the 'Cats went on another 7-2 run—layups by Washington and Wegenke bookending a jumper and free throw from Thoming—to up Chico State's lead to a dozen. A late Vanessa Holland layup completed the scoring in the quarter, and the Wildcats went into halftime on top 36-26.
On the strength of a Washington layup and a Martinez 3-pointer, Chico State upped its lead to 43-26 early in the third period. Monterey Bay whittled the deficit down to a dozen, only to see the Wildcats close out the quarter on a 13-6 run—Thoming and Jones each knocked down a pair of buckets, and Wong added her fourth 3-pointer of the afternoon—to give the 'Cats a 61-42 lead.
After spotting the Otters a pair of free throws to start the fourth quarter, Chico State scored seven of the next nine points—Wong capping the run with her record-setting 209th career 3-pointer—and the Wildcats ballooned their lead to 68-46. The 'Cats kept the pedal to the metal for the remainder of the contest, with five points by Washington and 3-pointers by Martinez and Stark giving Chico State a 29-point cushion and an eventual 79-52 victory, completing a season sweep of Monterey Bay.
The Wildcats return home next week for a pair of important CCAA matchups. Chico State welcomes conference leader UC San Diego to Acker Gym Thursday, with Cal State San Marcos coming to town on Saturday. Both games tip off at 5:30 p.m.
