Chico State Athletics

For the past two seasons, the Chico State women’s basketball team has relied heavily on point guard Courtney Hamilton to keep the offense flowing, distributing the ball and setting her teammates up for high-percentage shots. The sophomore from Walnut Creek did all that and much more this past weekend, keeping the Wildcats’ offense productive while also posting some impressive scoring and rebounding numbers in big roads wins over Cal State East Bay and No. 22 Cal State Monterey Bay. For her all-around efforts, Hamilton is the latest Wildcat of the Week.

Friday against Cal State East Bay, Hamilton scored seven points, knocked down her lone 3-point field goal attempt, grabbed five rebounds and doled out a pair of assists while also hitting two clutch free throws in the game’s final seconds to help the Wildcats beat the Pioneers, 60-51. Hamilton enjoyed an even bigger night in Saturday’s 63-58 victory over nationally-ranked Cal State Monterey Bay, draining every shot she took (3-for-3 from the field, 4-for-4 from the foul line) to match her career high of 10 points. She also hauled in a career-best seven rebounds and dished out two assists as the ’Cats upset the host Otters.

Hamilton is averaging 4.8 points a game for the Wildcats so far this season, and she currently ranks fourth in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) in assists (3.1 a game) and third among conference players in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2).

Chico State returns to Acker Gym this weekend, hosting Sonoma State Friday and Humboldt State Saturday in a pair of key CCAA matchups. Both games are scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m.

Jordan Semple was simply astounding this weekend, notching a career high 19 points Friday and matching a career high with 10 rebounds on Saturday. He averaged 17 points and eight rebounds during the Wildcats’ two wins to earn Wildcat of the Week honors for the second time this year.
 
The redshirt freshman from Arcata torched Cal State East Bay for 19 points, six rebounds, an assist and a steal in just 24 minutes off the bench in Friday night’s 93-76 shellacking of Cal State East Bay. Saturday, Semple scored 15 points to go along with his 10 rebounds, an assist, and a blocked shot against .
 
Semple shot 57 percent (12-for-21) from the field, including 63 percent from beyond the arc (5-for-8) and also knocked down five-of-seven free throws over the weekend. He’s now shooting 51 percent on the season, second on the team behind only Jordan Barton, another of the team’s freshmen. He leads the team in rebounding at 5.7 per game despite averaging only 18 minutes per contest, ranks second with 14 blocks, and third with 21 assists.
 
Chico State, in a five-way logjam for first place atop the CCAA, returns to Acker Gym this weekend, hosting Sonoma State Friday and Humboldt State Saturday. Both games are scheduled to tip off at 7:30 p.m.