FRESNO, Calif. – Makenzi Laporte scored 18 points, Meadow Aragon had 14, Jadence Clifton had 13 and Jordan Allred had 10 as the quartet opened the 2024-25 Chico State women's basketball season with a 66-63 win over host Fresno Pacific in the second game of the CCAA-PacWest crossover at the Special Events Center Friday evening.
Along with Ciarah Michalik's four points, the starters went on to combine 59 points.
The win saw positives and negatives for the Wildcats. Starting with free throws, the Wildcats went 18-of-25 on the line with the starters making 15 of them. Laporte went 5-of-6, Michalik went a perfect 4-for-4 and Aragon made 4-of-7.
Chico State also dominated the glass, outrebounding Fresno Pacific 45-36.
Despite the win, the Wildcats had a difficult evening taking care of the ball, committing 16 turnovers. The Sunbirds were guilty of five miscues.
The Sunbirds relied quite a bit on their bench as the reserves scored 26 points. They were led by starter Jayla Green, who dropped in seven field goals and a free throw for 15 points.
It was a tight game from start to finish. The largest lead was seven, when Clifton connected a 3-pointer to put Chico State ahead 7-0 less 3:48 into the game.
The final five minutes of the game was clutch moments. Clifton hit another 3-pointer to put Chico ahead 58-55 and the Wildcats relied on field goals to win the game, going 4-for-6 in the later half of the fourth quarter. Clifton came up clutch again netting a layup with 31 seconds left and Laporte made a pair of free throws with seven seconds to play to put a cushion to the lead that proved to be beneficiary as Fresno Pacific got a bucket for the final play.
Chico State returns to the Special Events Center to take on Fresno Pacific's PacWest foes Dominican on Saturday. Tipoff is at noon.
The Penguins dropped their season-opener to Chico's CCAA partner Sonoma State, 68-52, earlier in the evening.
Postgame Notes
• With the win, Chico State is now 6-5 all-time against Fresno Pacific. Their first meeting was in 1992. The Sunbirds won the first three meetings but now the Wildcats have won four of the last five meetings dating back to 2016.
• Head coach Brian Fogel, embarking his 17
th season at the helm, picked up his 250
th career win, all with Chico State. He is 250-173.
• In addition to his overall record, Fogel is 12-4 in season-openers. He won the first eight games of the season-openers.
• The 18 combined free throws were the most made in a game since November 30, 2023 against Cal State San Bernardino. Coincidentally, Chico State made 18 free throws when it played Fresno Pacific last year (November 11, 2023) when the two played in Rohnert Park.
• Chico State's 45 rebounds were the most grabbed since February 18, 2023 against Cal State Monterey Bay. Makenzi Laporte, the lone Wildcat to have played that game, made eight. She recorded four tonight.
