SAN FRANCISCO—For at least one week, the Chico State women's basketball team has made it abundantly clear that life on the road is just fine with them. After playing just one away game since December 10, the Wildcats began a string of four straight road contests with a convincing win Thursday over Cal State Monterey Bay, and on Saturday led from wire-to-wire against San Francisco State, downing the host Gators 74-59 at The Swamp.
By posting its third straight win, Chico State improved to 12-6 on the season and remains tied with Cal State LA for fourth place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with an 8-4 conference record. Both the Wildcats and the Golden Eagles moved to within one game of third place Cal Poly Pomona, which lost to Sonoma State 68-65 on Saturday. San Francisco State dropped its fourth straight decision to fall to 7-11 overall and 3-9 in CCAA play.
Jordan Morris literally could not miss for the Wildcats Saturday, hitting all seven of her field goal attempts and going 3-for-3 at the free throw line on the way to a career-high 17 points, as well as pulling down a team-high eight rebounds. Brandy Huffhines contributed 15 points to the 'Cats' attack, while Zhane Duckett scored 12 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out four assists, and came up with four steals on the afternoon. Makenzi Laporte scored all 11 of her points in the second half and added four rebounds for Chico State.
San Francisco State's Mya Blake was the game's leading scorer with 27 points.
Chico State took command of the contest almost immediately. Baskets by Huffhines, Morris and Haley Ison staked the Wildcats to an early 11-3 lead, then after San Francisco State registered a field goal, Chico State went on an 8-0 run—Huffhines hit a jumper, Morris dropped in a layup, and Myli Martinez converted four free throws—to put the Wildcats up 19-5. Bailey Jones finished off the first quarter scoring with a 3-pointer, extending Chico State's lead to 22-8.
Though the Wildcats' offense cooled down in the second quarter, Chico State maintained its double-digit lead via the free throw line. Huffhines and Duckett each hit four from the charity stripe, and the 'Cats went into the locker room with a 35-25 halftime lead.
Chico State poured it on in the third period. Two three-point plays by Laporte, a Huffhines 3-pointer, and a pair of fields goals by both Duckett and Morris highlighted a 19-4 run to give the 'Cats a 25-point bulge at 54-29. San Francisco State scored the next seven points, but another three-point play by Laporte gave Chico State a comfortable 57-38 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The 'Cats stayed aggressive early in the final 10-minute stanza. Two Laporte free throws, a jumper by Morris, and three-point plays by Morris and Duckett ballooned Chico State's advantage to 67-44 with 5:19 remaining. The Gators outscored the 'Cats 15-7 the rest of way, but Chico State's lead was never seriously threatened, allowing the Wildcats to roll to the 74-59 victory.
Chico State remains on the road next week, as the Wildcats travel to Hayward Thursday night to take on Cal State East Bay (8-8, 5-7 CCAA) before facing CCAA leader Cal State Dominguez Hills (18-0, 12-0 CCAA) Saturday afternoon.
