SAN FRANCISCO – For several games now, the Chico State women's basketball team has had three dominant quarters and one faulty. Against former Wildcat Natasha Smith's San Francisco State team on Thursday evening, Chico State found itself outscored in the second quarter and saw a 12-point lead shrunk to two at halftime.
 
Coming out of the locker room, the Wildcats stormed out and ran away to a 91-72 victory over the Gators for their fourth straight win and sixth of their last eight games.
 
When asked by KPAY's Mike Wessels on what his message was to the team in the locker room during the intermission, head coach Brian Fogel's message to the team in the locker room was quite simple: wake up.
 
Chico State (8-4, 4-2 CCAA) did just that, outscoring SF State 48-31 in the second half. Fogel would be happy as his team shot 52.9 percent (18-of-34) from the field while limiting the Gators (3-8, 2-4 CCAA) to 26.5 percent (9-of-34).
 
Brandy Huffhines, who had a quiet 8-point game against Cal Poly Humboldt on New Year's Eve, overcame a two-game cold spell and put 21 points on the board tonight. Zhane Duckett and Morgan Mathis each had 14 points while Makenzi Laporte contributed to 11.
 
The Wildcats hit 50.8 percent of their shots (32-of-63) while the Gators were at 33.3 percent (22-of-66).
 
Against a San Francisco State team that forces 20.2 turnovers per game, Chico State finished well below that average with 13 miscues.
 
Rebounding belonged to the Wildcats, 41-32. Laporte and Ashleigh Bar each had eight boards and Jadence Clifton had seven.
 
Although the Gators struck first with a bucket on the first possession of the game, Stella Rollo successfully had a second-chance bucket and a 3-pointer by Huffhines gave the 'Cats the lead. The Wildcats had led by as many as 12 in the first half. Barr made a jumper to give her team a 22-10 lead with 3:03 left in the opening quarter.
 
SF State climbed back and tied the game at 30 with 6:19 in the half. It grabbed the lead and pushed the gap to as many as three with 2:36 left. Laporte erased that deficit with a 3-pointer and after a short game of cat-and-mouse, Barr got a layup at the buzzer to take a 43-41 lead at halftime.
 
The lead became permanent as the 'Cats built a 9-point lead two minutes into the second half.
 
Chico State's next opponent is on the other side of the bay as it heads to Cal State East Bay Saturday at a rare 5:30 p.m. tipoff.