TURLOCK, Calif. – After trying to reignite their rhythm in Seaside Thursday coming out of a near two-week holiday break, the Chico State women's basketball team may have found that groove again on Saturday as the Wildcats ran away to a 66-44 win over a shorthanded Stanislaus State at Fitzpatrick Arena.
Chico State, winners of eight straight games, improves to 11-1 overall and 6-0 in the CCAA, keeping pace with No. 5 Cal State Dominguez Hills for first place. Stanislaus State, which was missing the services of its top two scorers in Da'Myiah Lewis and Talia Maxwell, drop to 4-8 overall and 3-3 in conference play.
Makenzi Laporte ended the day with another blackjack, scoring 21 points for the second consecutive game with help from a career-high four 3-pointers made. Jordan Allred had 10 points and a team-best eight rebounds.
The Wildcats finished the day shooting 36.8 percent (25-for-68) from the field while hitting 10 field goals from beyond the arc.
Daja Scott Mitchell, the Warriors' third top scorer, led the effort with 20 points and eight rebounds. Alyssa Premo had a dozen points. The Warriors ended the game 16-for-43 (37.2 percent) around the perimeter while making 10-of-14 on the free throw line. Premo went 6-for-6 on the charity stripe.
Chico State had led the entire game, but Stanislaus State kept pace with the Wildcats until the understaffing began to show. Leading 28-18 at the start of the second half, Chico State pulled away from Stanislaus State in the third quarter, outscoring the Warriors 24-8 in the period. Laporte had 10 points in the quarter as Chico State went 9-for-18 from the field including four 3-point baskets.
While turnovers have been a problem for Chico State, the Wildcats did lower that number 11. Stanislaus State, however, committed 20 mistakes and Chico State benefited it with 19 points.
The Wildcats will now begin a stretch of playing seven of the next eight games against Southern California foes, starting Thursday with Cal Poly Pomona in Acker Gym at 5:30 p.m. The Broncos capitalized on a tired Cal State LA team following a three-overtime game at Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday. The Broncos went on to beat the Golden Eagles 63-53 in Kellogg Arena this afternoon.
Postgame Notes
• Since 1976, Chico State now leads the all-time series with Stanislaus State, 63-34, with the Wildcats having won six straight meetings and seven of the last eight.
• Head coach Brian Fogel, in his 17
th season at the helm, is 260-174 in his career.
• The 11-1 start to the season is the best for the Wildcats since the 2012-13 season. That team won the first 10 games before being handed their first loss to UC San Diego in La Jolla.
• Chico State is also 6-0 in conference play for the first time since that 2012-13 season.
• Makenzi Laporte completes the week with a pair of 21 points. She is currently averaging 9.79 points per game this season, keeping her inside the top eight in the CCAA. Laporte has shown to be on a shooting streak as she is averaging 18.0 points in the last six games.
• Despite scoring 66 points in the game, Chico State still ranks second best in the CCAA with an average of 74.4 points per game. Chico State and scoring leaders Cal State Dominguez Hills are the only teams in the conference to be averaging more than 70 points per game. The Toros came into the game averaging 76.8 points per game. The Wildcats and Toros are also the top two teams in the conference in scoring margins. While the Toros scoring margin is 23.8, the Wildcats are 16.3. Cal Poly Pomona is third in the conference with a 5.4 average.
• The Wildcats will continue leading the CCAA in field goal percentage, averaging 45.0 percent.
• Although she went 3-for-8 from the field, Meadow Aragon continues to lead the NCAA West Region in field goal percentage with an average of 64.2. She also ranks fifth in the nation. Aragon is the only player in the West Region to be shooting higher than 60 percent.
