POMONA – Makenzi Laporte scored 22 points and Stella Rollo had 14 rebounds, both career-highs, as the duo led the way to the Chico State women's basketball team's 71-63 win over Cal Poly Pomona at Kellogg Arena Thursday.
 
The win is huge for Chico State (16-6, 12-4 CCAA). While the second-place Wildcats have now won their fifth straight game, they get breathing room by taking a two-game lead over the third-place Broncos with six games to play. Chico State also has a four-game lead over five teams battling for fourth place in the standings.
 
It was a big day for both Laporte and Rollo. Starting with Laporte, she made seven field goals and free throws each to break her previous career mark of 20 set in the season-opener against Dominican back in November. Rollo had never reached double digits in the rebounding column and tonight she did. She also had six points.
 
Zhane Duckett, coming off a rare triple-double last weekend, finished with 16 points and five assists. Brandy Huffhines had 13 points and six assists.
 
The Wildcats finished the game hitting 43.1 percent (25-for-58) from the field while making 16-of-21 from the free throw line.
 
The Broncos (14-7, 10-6 CCAA) was led by Kalaya Buggs, who dropped 24 points and 14 rebounds. They were without Jeanette Fine, who put 21 points against Chico State in Acker Gym back in December. Cal Poly Pomona shot 31.3 percent from the field while going 16-for-23 at the line.
 
Chico State had one of the best first-half performances on the season. While the Wildcats had a 34-18 lead at the break, they did so shooting 51.7 percent (15-for-29) from the field while committing only four turnovers. Laporte had 10 points going into the locker room while Rollo had six boards.
 
The Wildcats learned no double-digit lead is safe against the Broncos as Cal Poly Pomona stampeded its way back into the game, going on a 15-2 run in nearly four minutes to cut the deficit to three. The pressure kept coming as Cal Poly Pomona kept the deficit under 10 for the remainder of the third quarter.
 
Duckett opened the fourth quarter with a bucket to give Chico State a 42-53 lead. The Wildcats maintained a comfortable lead a majority of the period. Laporte stepped up in the fourth by scoring eight points.
 
Chico State will head further into the Inland Empire to Cal State San Bernardino for a 1 p.m. tipoff on Saturday. The Coyotes are coming off a 55-47 win over Cal Poly Humboldt tonight. In their last meeting, the Wildcats took the conference opener over the Coyotes, 82-73, in Acker Gym back in November.