CHICO, Calif. – Meadow Aragon scored 25 points, including 18 in the first half, as the Chico State women's basketball team closed out the calendar year with a 74-65 win over future CCAA member UC Merced at a frigid Acker Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats bids farewell to 2024 with a 9-1 overall record and have won six straight games. The Bobcats fall to 4-7 as they play their final year as a member of the NAIA and will join both the NCAA Division II and the CCAA next season.
While the weather outside was a mixture of rain and drizzle and cold temperatures, that chill somehow found its way inside Acker Gym and brought a cold feeling to the Wildcats, for they finished the day shooting 40 percent (28-for-70) from the field.
While all Chico State players put points on the board, joining Aragon in double figures were her fellow seniors Makenzi Laporte and Ciarah Michalik, each contributing to 11 points.
Ashleigh Barr had quite a day going to the glass, gathering 10 of Chico State's 42 rebounds. Aragon finished second behind Barr with eight boards.
UC Merced was led by Sarina Magra and Madison Diaz, who each had 15 points while Nicole Lukito had 14. The Bobcats finished shooting 35.5 percent (27-for-76).
Chico State got off to a cold start in the first five minutes of the game. UC Merced jumped to a 10-4 lead while taking advantage of Chico State going 2-for-8 from the field. Following the media timeout, Aragon and Laporte combined for six points to tie the game at 10 with 3:40 left.
Both sides started off the second quarter very slow. It wasn't until 7:36 when Kaila Woo got a layup to tie the game and Laporte connected back-to-back hype-feeling 3-pointers to give Chico State its first lead (24-20) in the game.
The Wildcats took a 39-32 lead into intermission.
Chico State would dominate the third quarter, outscoring the Bobcats 28-14 to have a 67-46 lead. Michalik scored eight points in the period while Allred had half a dozen.
After Kaylie Edge connected a 3-pointer to give Chico State its largest lead in the game (70-48) with 9:15 left in the game, UC Merced began a rally in which it went on a 17-4 run the remainder of the quarter. Chico State managed to use the clock in its favor and hold off the reeling UC Merced.
With the non-conference schedule officially complete, Chico State finishes the regular season in CCAA play. The Wildcats begin 2025 on the road visiting Cal State Monterey Bay January 2 at 5:30 p.m. The Otters are coming off a 73-59 defeat to Stanislaus State this afternoon.
Postgame Notes
• Today marked the very first meeting between Chico State and UC Merced.
• Head coach Brian Fogel, in his 17
th season at the helm, is 258-174 in his career.
• With 25 points, Meadow Aragon came up one short from tying her career best set at Cal Poly Humboldt last month.
• The Wildcats saw their streak of shooting 50 percent from the field or better come to an end at three games. Chico State ended up shooting 40 percent from around the perimeter against UC Merced.
• Ciarah Michalik's 11 points today is a season high. Her previous best was 10 at Cal Poly Humboldt in the season opener last month.
• It is the fourth time in Makenzi Laporte's career that she has made three 3-pointers in a game this season, tying her current best set against Cal Poly Humboldt last week.
