SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – In a game of cat-chasing-mouse at Coussoulis Arena Thursday evening, the Chico State women's basketball team had one final attempt to tie the game but couldn't connect as Cal State San Bernardino walked off the floor with a 78-73 result over the Wildcats.
The two teams will have to split the regular season meetings for the fourth straight season, with each side taking wins on their home floor each year.
San Bernardino's Jaida Jackson, who appeared unstoppable with a 24-point night, missed her second free throw to keep the deficit at three and give Chico State one final hope to tie the game with 12 seconds to play. Makenzi Laporte, on paper the Wildcats' best shooter, made a deep 3-point attempt to tie the game with four seconds left, but the shot missed and bounced out of play to hand the possession back to the Coyotes.
The loss drops Chico State's overall record to 14-5 and 9-4 in the CCAA as the calendar turns to the February. The Coyotes, having earned their fifth straight win, improve to 8-10 overall and 7-6 in conference play.
Four of Chico State's starters had to pick up reigning CCAA Player of the Week Meadow Aragon, who saw her impressive streak of five straight games with a double-double come to an end as the senior was limited to six points and four rebounds. Jadence Clifton led the effort with 16 points to tie her season-best set against the very same Coyotes back in Acker Gym earlier in the month. Ciarah Michalik also had a season-high performance of 13 points, Laporte had a dozen and Jordan Allred had 11 points along with 15 rebounds to break her career-high mark for the second straight game.
While the Wildcats shot 42.2 percent (27-for-64) from the field, just two points below their season average, free throws played a big factor in the game, for they only made 13 out of 20 opportunities.
San Bernardino hit 41.3 percent (26-for-63) of its shots while making 20-of-25 on the charity stripe.
Chico State found itself down by seven two minutes into the game. It didn't get on the board until Clifton got a second-chance layup with 7:17 left in the first quarter. The Wildcats had trailed by as many as 10 late in the opening period. They did succeed in tying the game for the first time with less than six minutes in the half, when Laporte hit a 3-point shot to even the score at 27.
San Bernardino went into halftime leading 41-37.
The Wildcats kept the deficit under 10 points and finally found the lead when Clifton made another layup to move Chico State ahead 63-62 with less than six minutes left. Unfortunately, the lead was short lived and no more than two points. Chico State had only led for 1:15.
Chico State will head west of Highway 10 to play No. 15 Cal Poly Pomona. The Broncos, who are on a stampede as of late, rolled by Cal Poly Humboldt 69-34 for their eighth straight win. In their last meeting earlier in the month, Chico State lost a 90-84 overtime heartbreaker to Cal Poly Pomona in Acker Gym.
Postgame Notes
• With the loss, Chico State falls to 32-22 all-time against Cal State San Bernardino, dating back to their first meeting in 1995.
• Head coach Brian Fogel, in his 17
th season at the helm, is 263-178 in his career. He is currently chasing Fran Coslet's program record 286 wins.
• Now that she joined the elite clubs of 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in her career, Makenzi Laporte working her way into the record books. At the end of today's game, Laporte now has 1,056 points and is now chasing Jazmine Miller (2010-14), who had 1,231 points in her career at Chico State. In the rebounding column, Laporte has 536 and close to catching her former teammate Haley Ison (2018-23), who had 540 during her time in a Wildcat uniform.
• With her 11-point, 15-rebound night, it is Jordan Allred's first double-double since January 11, when she recorded 18 points and 10 rebounds against the very same Coyotes.
