POMONA, Calif. – In the first meeting between the Chico State and Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball teams, the Broncos narrowly defeated the Wildcats in overtime in Acker Gym.
 
Three weeks later, the Wildcats returned the favor.
 
Meadow Aragon and Ciarah Michalik both made a pair of critical free throws under the final 10 seconds to keep 15^th-ranked Cal Poly Pomona from catching them and Chico State left Kellogg Arena with a 77-72 win, snapping the Broncos' eight-game win streak. The win also marks the second straight season each team has taken a win on the opponent's floor to split the regular season meeting.
 
The win improves Chico State to 15-5 overall and 10-4 in the CCAA while picking up a game over second-place Cal Poly Pomona, which falls to 17-3 overall and 12-2 in conference play.
 
Jordan Allred led the way with another double-double, scoring a team-best 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Aragon, who was limited to a single-digit performance at Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday, returned to form and recorded 19 points and 10 rebounds, earning her seventh double-double on the season and sixth in the last seven games. Michalik also had a productive day offensively with a dozen points and Jadence Clifton had 13 points and five rebounds.
 
After a rough night in free throws on Thursday night, Chico State made a big turnaround on Saturday by making 17-of-22 on the line. Aragon went 7-of-8 while Clifton and Michalik both made all four of their opportunities, including the latter's insurance points in the final seconds of the game.
 
The Broncos got production from four of their starters, with Sydney Nelson leading the way with 17 points and Kalaya Buggs making 14. Cal Poly Pomona capitalized on both the paint and Chico State's turnovers. Starting in the lane, the Broncos scored 42 points while when collecting off the Wildcats' miscues, they generated 26 points.
 
Chico State ended up shooting 46.3 percent (25-for-54) from the field, including 10 from 3-point range. Cal Poly Pomona went 30-for-71 (42.3 percent) and was limited to five 3-point baskets on 25 attempts.
 
Both teams had to grind the entire game, as neither side led by more than six points. Chico State got off to a slow start but once Allred got the scoring started with a 3-pointer, the Wildcats clicked all cylinders and took a 14-8 lead midway through the opening period. Pomona, too, would respond with a run of its own and closed out the first quarter leading 21-17.
 
The Broncos would take a 25-19 lead nearly 2:30 into the second quarter. The Wildcats clawed back and made the reset of the first half in a prize fight fashion. Allred hit a 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds left to give Chico State a 37-36 lead at halftime. The senior ended up with 14 points in the first half, with 12 of those coming from 3-point range.
 
Period three turned out to be a difficult one for the Wildcats as the Broncos scored a dozen points off six Chico State turnovers. Thankfully for the Wildcats, the Broncos went 5-of-19 from the field in the quarter and Cal Poly Pomona ended it leading 51-49.
 
With the game tied again for the sixth and final time, Allred was fouled and made a pair of free throws to move ahead 73-71 with 30 seconds left. Buggs surprisingly made one of her two free throws, with her second shot missed and rebounded by Laporte and immediately called a 30-second timeout to get the ball out of the baseline. Chico State would get the crucial free throws from Aragon and Michalik to complete the 77-72 outcome.
 
Chico State returns to Acker Gym to entertain Stanislaus State on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The Warriors fell victim to San Francisco State 81-72 at home this afternoon. The Wildcats won the last meeting 66-44 over the shorthanded Warriors at Fitzpatrick Arena last month.
 
Postgame Notes
• With the win, Chico State improves to 31-35 all-time against Cal Poly Pomona. The two have been clashing in women's basketball since 1974.
• Head coach Brian Fogel, in his 17^th season at the helm, is 264-178 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 1,064 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 539 and is one away from tying her former teammate Haley Ison (2018-23), who had 540 during her time in a Wildcat uniform.