SEASIDE, Calif. – When it comes to playing any conference opponent, regardless of record, a win is a win.
That was the case Thursday night when the Chico State women's basketball team had to hold off a reeling Cal State Monterey Bay as the Wildcats beat the Otters 70-61 in the Kelp Bed to kick off year 2025.
The Wildcats, having won seven straight games, improve to 10-1 overall while remaining undefeated in the CCAA at 5-0. The Otters, despite the effort against Chico State, drop to 3-8 overall while remaining winless in the CCAA after five attempts.
Makenzi Laporte, hailing from nearby Salinas, put together a show in front of her hometown crowd by dropping 21 points, including a half a dozen in the second half. Jadence Clifton finished with 12 points and Meadow Aragon had 10.
Chico State had a good night in the shooting column, hitting nearly 52 percent (28-for-54) of its shots, despite going 2-for-10 from 3-point range. Rebounding also favored the Wildcats, outperforming the Otters on the glass 38-29. Laporte had eight boards to lead the team while Jordan Allred had seven.
Ciarah Michalik, going up against her former team, finished with four points, four assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals, one of which was crucial in the fourth quarter.
Monterey Bay was led by A'ajah Slocum, who had 18 points, followed by Cheyanne Whitfield with 17. Ella Doherty, the team's leading scorer, was limited to 10 points. The Otters finished the game 38.3 percent (23-for-60) from the field.
Turnovers certainly factored the game as the Wildcats committed 20, giving the Otters 11 points off those mistakes. Monterey Bay, though, made 16 miscues and Chico State collected 14 points.
Chico State got off to a slow start from tipoff. Monterey Bay had led for the first 5:30 of the game until an Allred 3-pointer put Chico State ahead (7-6) for the first time. The Wildcats would stay up front the rest of the game but had to battle to keep the lead. The Wildcats started the second half leading 38-28 and a Laporte fastbreak layup 2:15 into the third quarter gave Chico State a 12-point lead, the largest in the game.
Monterey Bay would bring the deficit down to three (54-51) 12 seconds into the fourth quarter. Ashleigh Barr became the hero of the period for the Wildcats. She played the entire quarter and scored six points while grabbing five critical rebounds including three off her team's missed shots. The Otters got to within five (66-61) with 48 seconds left. Laporte made a pair of free throws, Michalik picked up a critical steal that would setup a pair of successful free throws by Clifton to complete the 70-61 result.
The Wildcats will cross through the Pacheco Pass and into the Central Valley where they play Stanislaus State Saturday at 1 p.m. The Warriors are coming off a 62-56 win over Cal Poly Humboldt tonight to remain fifth in the CCAA standings and stay ahead out of a messy four-way tie for sixth.
Postgame Notes
• Since their first meeting in 2004, Chico State leads the all-time series with Cal State Monterey Bay, 31-6, having won 19 straight.
• Head coach Brian Fogel, in his 17
th season at the helm, is 259-174 in his career.
• The 10-1 start to the season is the best for the Wildcats since the 2012-13 season. That team started 10-0.
• By scoring the 21 points, Makenzi Laporte has leaped over 900 career points. She is currently at 919 in 95 games she's played, all at Chico State.
• With Chico State winning seven straight games, it is the third consecutive season that at some point the Wildcats have won that many games.
• Chico State hit 50 percent or better in a game for the fifth time this season and fourth in the last five games.
• Madison Parry made her Chico State debut tonight, coming off the bench and scoring six points and grabbing one rebound. It was her first game February 25, 2023, when she was with Cal Poly Humboldt taking on Cal State LA
