CHICO – Saturday evening had more positives than negatives for the Chico State women's basketball team as they wrapped up the 2023-24 home schedule with Cal State LA.
Before they set foot in Acker Gym, Chico State watched Cal Poly Pomona get upset by Stanislaus State. But Cal State San Marcos ended up victorious in its game at San Francisco State. And although the Wildcats were defeated by the red-hot Golden Eagles, 78-66, Chico State will lock up the No. 2 seed and is guaranteed a spot to the upcoming CCAA Tournament semifinal.
Looking at the standings with one game remaining on the schedule, the Wildcats (19-8, 15-6 CCAA) are unable to catch the newly crowned conference champions San Marcos, which is now 17-4. However, thanks to Chico State sweeping the season meeting with the Cougars, the Wildcats remain one game ahead of Cal Poly Pomona but owns the tiebreaker on the Broncos. Cal Poly Pomona enters the final week with a 14-7 record.
Another positive for the Wildcats was the celebration of their senior class. Prior to tipping off, Chico State saluted Zhane Duckett, Brandy Huffhines, Jazmyne Lillie, Morgan Mathis and Stella Rollo, who played their final game at Acker Gym.
On the floor, Jordan Allred led the scoring effort with 19 points, Duckett dropped in 14 while her fellow seniors combined for 15 points. Rollo collected eight of the Wildcats' rebounds.
The Wildcats ended the night shooting 42.1 percent (24-for-57), including nine buckets from 3-point range.
Cal State LA (16-10, 13-8 CCAA) was led by Lily Buggs, who continues to haunt the Wildcats. She scored 23 points in the last meeting in Los Angeles last month and tonight she dropped in 30. Nicole Flennaugh had 14 points and Donja Payne had a dozen to round out the scoring for LA.
It was a tight score all throughout the first half. Neither side led by more than seven points. The Golden Eagles went into the locker room with a 37-34 lead. Duckett had 13 points in the half, but Buggs was at 20.
While Chico State did tie the game at 37 early into the third quarter, Los Angeles got on a run that gave it a 14-point lead midway through the period. The Wildcats were able to get the deficit down to eight with 37 seconds left in the game, but the Golden Eagles made all their free throws in the end to get the lead back to double digits.
The Wildcats will finish the regular season on the road Thursday at Cal Poly Humboldt. Tipoff is at 5:30 p.m.
