SAN BERNARDINO—Because the Chico State women's basketball team has made a history out of playing well at Acker Gym, it's a rare season that sees the Wildcats play better on the road than they do at home. It's been a "road warrior" mentality for the 'Cats in the 2019–20 campaign, with Chico State winning nine of its 13 games on the opposing team's home floor. The Wildcats notched their latest road "W" Saturday at Coussoulis Arena, withstanding a fourth quarter Cal State San Bernardino rally to down the host Coyotes 74-65.
Saturday's win moves Chico State to 14-10 on the season and 10-8 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), good for sixth place in the conference standings. Cal State San Bernardino dropped to 3-18 overall and 3-15 in CCAA play.
Myli Martinez continued to display the hot hand from behind the 3-point arc. After hitting four treys in Thursday's win over Cal Poly Pomona, the sophomore buried five 3-pointers Saturday to lead the Wildcats with 17 points, while also hauling in six rebounds. Mikaila Wegenke scored a career-high 15 points, with Hannah Washington adding 11 points and five rebounds. Bailey Jones hit three 3-pointers and finished with a career-high nine points, while Maddy Wong scored seven points and dished out five assists. Daisha Abdelkader contributed six rebounds and five assists to the 'Cats' attack.
Chico State came firing out of the blocks in the opening quarter—Martinez buried two 3-pointers, Washington dropped in a pair of buckets, and Haley Ison converted a layup to give the Wildcats an early 12-4 lead. Cal State San Bernardino answered with an 11-0 run to briefly jump on top 15-12, but another Martinez trey and a Brynn Thoming layup wrapped up the period's scoring and put the 'Cats back in front 17-16.
Fueled by two 3-pointers from Jones, Chico State started the second quarter on a 10-2 run to quickly extend its advantage to nine. The Coyotes were able to whittle the deficit to four at 33-29, but layups by Washington and Wegenke and another 3-pointer by Jones bumped the Wildcats' lead to 40-31. Before the period ended, Thoming delivered a layup, and the 'Cats went into halftime up 42-35.
Chico State built its biggest lead of the night to begin the third quarter—a Wong 3-pointer and an Ison jumper put the 'Cats in front by a dozen. San Bernardino used a 15-1 run to grab the lead at 50-48, but were unable to score in the final 2:24 of the period. The Wildcats took advantage of the Coyotes' drought, and thanks to free throws by Wegenke and Martinez and layups by Washington and Shay Stark, Chico State entered the fourth quarter with a 55-50 lead.
Despite an early 3-pointer by Martinez, San Bernardino crept to within one at 58-57. Layups by Wegenke and Abdelkader pushed the Wildcats' lead to seven, only to see the Coyotes make it a 64-62 game with 4:13 remaining. Chico State got hot at just the right time, scoring eight unanswered points—Wegenke dropped in a layup, Wong hit three free throws, and Martinez knocked down her fifth 3-pointer of the night—to go up 72-62 with 36 seconds remaining. That would be more than enough offense to put the game away, as the 'Cats ran out the clock to post the 74-65 victory.
Chico State returns to Acker Gym next week for its final regular season home stand, taking on San Francisco State Thursday and Sonoma State on Saturday. Tipoff for both games is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
