CHICO – When two of the best defensive teams in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) square off, it’s almost guaranteed that points will be at a premium. That was indeed the scenario Saturday night at Acker Gym, and the Chico State women’s basketball team – despite being held to one of its lowest scoring nights of the season by San Francisco State – was even stingier on the defensive end than the Gators. The Wildcats held San Francisco State to just 26 percent shooting, and Natasha Smith delivered four clutch points in the final 10 seconds of the contest to give Chico State a hard-earned 49-43 win.
The victory – Chico State’s third straight – moves the Wildcats to 11-7 on the season. The Wildcats improve to 8-5 in the CCAA and hold on to a share of fourth place in the conference standings. With Saturday’s loss, San Francisco State fell to 8-13 overall and 4-9 in CCAA play.
While keeping the Gators’ offense in check, the Wildcats didn’t exactly light it up, either, shooting just 34.6 percent from the field. The two teams combined to go 1-for-25 from the behind the 3-point line, and Chico State was held without a trey for the first time since going 0-for-10 in a loss to Humboldt State on February 14, 2009.
It took nearly four minutes, in fact, before the Wildcats got on the scoreboard – Synchro Bull’s jumper with 16:12 remaining in the half cut into San Francisco State’s early 6-0 lead, but with the Gators flashing the defense that ranks second in the CCAA, Chico State scored just four buckets over the next 11 minutes. Molly Collins kept the ’Cats close with a pair of baskets off the bench, but San Francisco State was able to extend its lead to 16-10. The Chico State defense then stiffened, allowing just four points over the final five minutes of the period, and late layups by Smith and Melissa Richardson gave the Wildcats a 21-20 halftime lead.
Chico State and San Francisco State continued to struggle for points in the second half, with the teams trading leads seven times before a Carly Cator 3-pointer gave the Gators a 35-31 lead with 9:16 to play. The Wildcats then switched to a suffocating zone defense and held San Francisco State to just two field goals the rest of the way, and Smith led a 10-3 run with a jumper and four free throws to put the ’Cats in front 41-38. Chico State pushed the lead to four with a minute to go before a Donisha Tate layup with 48 seconds left made the score 45-43. After being fouled intentionally on a breakaway layup attempt, Smith coolly sank two free throws with six seconds left, then on the ensuing play converted a layup on a Taylor Lydon inbounds pass to give the Wildcats their biggest lead of the night. A desperation 3-pointer by San Francisco State ended the game, and Chico State won the battle of the defenses by a final score of 49-43.
Smith led all scorers with 17 points on the night to go along with seven rebounds, and her four assists moved Natasha into eighth place on Chico State’s career assists list with 229. Bull contributed 10 points and three assists, while Christine Vest added seven points and a team-high eight rebounds for the victorious Wildcats. Tate paced San Francisco State in both points and rebounds, recording a double-double with 16 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
BOX SCORE
Chico State hits the road next weekend, traveling to southern California to take on Cal Poly Pomona Friday and Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday. The Wildcats return to Acker Gym Tuesday, February 9th to play Cal State Stanislaus in the first of five straight home games.