Chico State Athletics

SAN BERNARDINO – For Chico State’s Synchro Bull, Saturday will be a night she will always remember. For Krystal Urzua of Cal State San Bernardino, it’s a game she’d just as soon forget. The Wildcats held Urzua, one of the top scorers in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), to just five points – all coming in the final two minutes – while Bull poured in a career-high 20 as the ’Cats used a 20-3 second half run to break open a tight contest and beat the Coyotes 61-51 at Coussoulis Arena.

Saturday’s win gave Chico State a split of their weekend road trip and improved the Wildcats’ season record to 12-8 and 9-6 in the CCAA. For Cal State San Bernardino, the loss – its third in the last four games – dropped the Coyotes to 12-9 overall and 8-8 in conference play.

Chico State led most of the way, and early in the first half fashioned a 15-10 advantage as Bull and Natasha Smith combined for 11 points. San Bernardino tied the game with five unanswered points on an Amanda Ragains 3-pointer and a layup by Nikki Boone. The Wildcats quickly responded with a 10-0 run on layups by Bull, Smith, Christine Vest and Kristin Marquardt to go up 25-15…but the Coyotes drained four 3-pointers at the end of the period, and despite Urzua missing all eight of her shot attempts, pulled to within 30-27 at halftime.

Kymberly Ooten was red-hot at the start of the second half, hitting three shots and leading a 12-7 run to put the Coyotes on top 39-37. San Bernardino’s lead, though, was short-lived – as Chico State continued to keep the dangerous Urzua out of the scoring column, the Wildcat offense went to work putting up 20 of the next 23 points to take firm command of the contest. Taylor Lydon hit a pair of big 3-pointers, while Bull and Melissa Richardson also connected from downtown to give the ’Cats their biggest lead of the night at 57-42 with just five minutes remaining. Urzua drained her first bucket – a 3-pointer – with 1:12 left to play, but by then it was too little and much too late for the Coyotes, as Chico State ran out the clock to post the 61-51 win.

Bull had four assists to go along with her career-high 20 points for the Wildcats; Smith chipped in with nine points and three assists, while Lydon contributed a career-best eight points. Marquardt led Chico State with seven rebounds on the night. The ’Cats shot 44.6 percent from the field and outrebounded San Bernardino 42-32. Ooten led the Coyotes with 14 points and six rebounds in the losing effort.

BOX SCORE

Chico State returns home Tuesday night for the first of five straight games in the friendly confines of Acker Gym. The Wildcats will take on Cal State Stanislaus, with tipoff scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Hear all the action with Mike Baca calling the play-by-play on ESPN 101.7 FM locally or on the Internet via the Wildcat Athletics website.