ARCATA—The Chico State women's basketball team hustled. It worked to create open looks at the basket on offense, and never took a possession off on the defensive end. But despite their best intentions, it was just one of those nights—the Wildcats were unable to get anything going consistently Thursday at Lumberjack Arena, and hampered by a season-high 19 turnovers, the 'Cats' brief two-game winning streak came to a halt against Cal Poly Humboldt, with the Lumberjacks scoring a 69-58 victory in Arcata.
 
With Thursday's loss, Chico State slips to 7-7 on the season and 4-5 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Cal Poly Humboldt, which swept the season series with the Wildcats, put an end to its five-game losing streak, improving to 5-9 overall and 4-6 in conference play.
 
Four Wildcats scored in double figures Thursday, with Haley Ison and Morgan Mathis each tallying 12 points. Mathis came off the bench to knock down four 3-pointers, while Ison drained a pair of treys. Myli Martinez and Makenzi Laporte registered 10 points apiece, while Charity Gallegos scored seven points and dished out three assists.
 
Chico State spotted Humboldt the first four points of the contest, then took a 5-4 lead courtesy of an Ison 3-pointer and a layup by Jordan Morris. The Lumberjacks quickly answered with an 12-2 run to go up 16-7. During that stretch, the Wildcats missed eight of nine field goals attempts before Mathis buried back-to-back 3-pointers to pull Chico State to within three. Humboldt scored the final five points of the period to take a 21-13 lead into the second quarter.
 
The Lumberjacks extended their lead to 11, but with Mathis hitting another 3-pointer and Martinez adding a layup, the 'Cats trimmed the deficit to five at 26-20. Despite a layup and three-point play by Gallegos, Humboldt built its advantage up to 13 before Martinez and Mikaela Bismillah both hit a pair of late free throws. The Lumberjacks connected on a desperation shot as the quarter ended, and went into halftime with a 40-29 lead.
 
Humboldt was still up a dozen midway through the third period when Ison got hot, knocking down a 3-pointer and two other buckets to fuel a 9-2 Chico State run and move the Wildcats to within 47-42. The two teams combined for just one field goal for the rest of the period, and with the Lumberjacks winning the battle of free throws over the last three minutes, Humboldt went up 54-44 entering the fourth quarter.
 
Chico State came out firing in the final period—two baskets by Laporte and a 3-pointer from Mathis keyed a 9-3 run to pull to within 57-53 with 7:58 to play. Once again, though, the Lumberjacks responded, posting 10 straight points to forge their biggest lead of the game at 67-53. With three minutes remaining, the Wildcats had precious little time to rally, and Humboldt was able to successfully ran out the clock to register the 69-58 victory.
 
The Wildcats wrap up their road trip Saturday, traveling to Rohnert Park for an afternoon contest against the Seawolves of Sonoma State. The game tips off at 1 p.m.
 
Sonoma State is enforcing a no spectators policy for the game, so fans will not be permitted to attend in person, but there are still several options in which to follow the action. The game will be broadcast live locally on AM-1290 KPAY and available online. Fans can also follow on the Internet via live stats. Live video broadcasts of the games are available for purchase on the CCAA Network. For $9.95 per month, fans can access every Chico State game—home and away—along with all live and archived CCAA matchups. Anyone having difficulty signing up for the CCAA Network can submit a support ticket here: https://www.blueframetech.com/help.
 
Links to streaming video, audio and live stats are available at www.chicowildcats.com in the calendar section of the website's the homepage, and on the women's basketball schedule page.