CARSON, Calif. – Several times throughout the season, the Chico State women's basketball team would come up with fourth-quarter magic that led them to wins.
 
Unfortunately, the magic ran out in the NCAA West Regional semifinal Saturday evening as the seventh-seeded Wildcats couldn't get past hot-shooting No. 6 Central Washington, as the team also known as the Wildcats beat Chico State 79-73 to advance to the regional final at Cal State Dominguez Hills' Torodome.
 
Chico State's 2024-25 season comes to a heartbreaking end at 24-8. The 24 wins is the most head coach Brian Fogel has accomplished in a single season in 16 years at the helm.
 
The six seniors on the team, Jordan Allred, Meadow Aragon, Ashleigh Barr, Jadence Clifton, Makenzi Laporte and Ciarah Michalik made every effort to keep their playing careers going further. Laporte and Allred combined for 55 points in the game. Barr also stepped up with an incredible performance off the bench, dropping 11 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Aragon was quiet on the scoring front but made her presence felt on the glass, grabbing a dozen rebounds including seven offensively.
 
Allred came close to becoming the third Wildcat to record a triple-double in program history, finishing with 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. She also had four steals. Michalik dished out four assists and two steals in her final collegiate game. Clifton collected nine points and seven rebounds in her outing.
 
Laporte finishes her basketball career on a high note by scoring 23 points. She will now await a hall of fame calling in the future as her resumé is quite impressive. Along with being named All-CCAA the last two seasons, she became the 11^th member of the 1,000-point club and with 1,263 in total she ranks 10^th all time. Laporte also finished with 612 career rebounds, placing her eighth all-time in the program. It was during her senior career when she became the sixth player to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in her Chico State career.
 
Although she is hanging up her basketball jersey and sneakers, Laporte will now grab her clubs as she will look to rejoin the Chico State women's golf team at some point in the spring. The Wildcats will have two tournaments remaining on the spring schedule including the CCAA Championships in April.
 
The biggest difference in tonight's game was Central Washington's 3-point shooting as it went 14-for-30 from beyond the arc. Sunny Huerta had five of those 3-point baskets made along with six free throws to complete a 27-point night. Overall, Central Washington finished shooting 43.3 percent (26-for-60) from the field.
 
Chico State did connect 37.7 percent (28-for-75) of its shots and did get 11 second chance points.
 
Chico State had quite a battle throughout the first half. Down by 12 with four minutes left in the half, Chico State got those dozen points including a 3-pointer by Clifton at the buzzer to tie the game at 36 at halftime.
 
Allred got a layup to start the second half for Chico State's only lead in the game. That lead was short lived as Huerta responded with a 3-pointer to put Central Washington back in front by one.
 
Chico State found itself in a double-digit hole again, trailing 73-60 with 5:41 left in the game. Chico State outscored Central Washington 13-6 in a final run effort. Chico State got to within two (75-73) with 56 seconds left following an old-fashion 3-point play by Laporte. Huerta came up clutch for Central Washington by making four of her free throws in the final 17 seconds in the game.