HAYWARD, Calif. – The last time Chico State and Cal State East Bay met in December the Wildcats blew out the Pioneers by 51 points in Acker Gym.
 
On Saturday, East Bay got its revenge against Chico in a big way as the Pioneers won the second meeting 73-67 in Pioneer Gym.
 
Although tonight's result was not the same story as it was in the first meeting, the ninth-place Pioneers (9-15, 7-11 CCAA) did hurt the Wildcats' postseason resumé. Starting with the CCAA Championships scenario, while the Wildcats (18-6, 13-5 CCAA) reserved a spot to the conference tournament two days ago, the loss tonight puts Chico State two games behind second-place Cal Poly Pomona with four games left in the regular season. The top two teams receive a first round bye to the semifinal of the CCAA Championships. Tonight's result could also be noted by the NCAA Championship Selection Committee as the ever-important regional polls are expected to be announced soon.
 
On a night in which Chico State shot 36.7 percent (22-for-60), the Wildcats missed out on their free throw opportunities. They went 18-of-27 on the line with Makenzi Laporte making eight of those free throws as part of her 24-point evening.
 
Meadow Aragon had 10 points while Jordan Allred and Jadence Clifton had nine. Allred and Ashleigh Barr each had eight of Chico State's 43 total rebounds and the former also dished out seven assists.
 
The Pioneers ended the night shooting 36.1 percent (26-of-72) from the field. Ariyah Smith and Taylor Eldredge, both of whom were nowhere to be found in Acker Gym as far as scoring went, combined for 39 points on their home floor.
 
Chico State opened the game having a four-point lead under six minutes into the game. East Bay went on an 11-0 run to take a 19-12 lead 30 seconds into the second quarter. The Wildcats did respond to that with a 10-0 run of their own in the later portion of the period to build a 27-23 lead with 1:42 left in the half.
 
East Bay would get the final two buckets to tie the game at 27 at halftime.
 
The two sides would go back-and-forth until a 14-4 run put the Pioneers up front 66-58 with 5:41 left in the game. The Wildcats were able to respond and bring the gap down to 68-67 heading into the final minute. Chico State missed two field goals in attempt to find the lead while East Bay made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 15 seconds that proved to be crucial in the game.
 
Chico State now hops on a plane to Southern California for the final road games of the regular season. The first stop will be to Cal State LA for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff on Thursday. The Golden Eagles are coming off an overtime win over Stanislaus State in Turlock this afternoon to keep their postseason hopes alive as they are currently in fifth place with a two-game lead over seventh-place Cal Poly Humboldt.
 
In their last meeting back in January, the Wildcats beat the Golden Eagles 76-62 in Acker Gym.