CHICO – For the Chico State women’s basketball team to climb the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings and the NCAA West Region rankings, the Wildcats will need to figure out how to thwart zone defenses. The ’Cats have struggled throughout January against teams that have thrown up the zone and held the Wildcats to minimal fast break opportunities. Friday was no different, as Sonoma State – the conference’s top defensive team – ran the zone to near perfection, holding the Wildcats to just 16 first half points on the way to a 57-45 victory at Acker Gym.
Chico State was held to its lowest scoring output of the season with Friday’s loss and saw its two-game winning streak come to an end, dropping the Wildcats to 10-7 overall and 7-6 in the CCAA. Sonoma State erased a nine-game losing streak at Acker Gym and posted its first road win against Chico State since the 2001-02 season to improve to 7-10 overall and 5-8 in CCAA play.
Synchro Bull was the lone Wildcat in double figures, scoring 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, adding four rebounds, three steals and a pair of blocks in 34 minutes of action. Ymonne Davidson-Mays contributed seven points, six rebounds and three steals, but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep the ’Cats from dropping their fourth game in seven tries on their home floor. Jaclyn Bisordi scored a season-high 20 points for the victorious Seawolves, with Taylor Vigil adding a dozen.
Chico State actually had a decent shooting night, hitting 41 percent of its field goal attempts, but Sonoma State shot nearly 48 percent, outrebounded the Wildcats 33-22 and forced 22 turnovers with its effective zone defense.
The night started on an encouraging note, as jumpers by Bull and Natasha Smith gave Chico State a quick 4-2 lead. The game was tied at six apiece when Sonoma State scored 13 of the next 16 points to go up 19-9. Jazmine Miller immediately cut the deficit to seven with a 3-pointer, but the Seawolves responded with a 12-2 run to extend their advantage to 31-14. Bull drained a jumper with 23 seconds left in the period – just the 16th shot attempt of the half for the Wildcats – and the Seawolves took a 31-16 lead into intermission.
Chico State slowly chipped away to start the second half, but with 11:18 left to play, still trailed 44-30. For the next three minutes, the Wildcats finally were able to penetrate the Seawolves’ zone and register some fast-break buckets, scoring eight of the next 10 points to pull to within six – Bull led the charge with a pair of layups, while Davidson-Mays and Caressa Williams also found the bottom of the net. The ’Cats had a chance to pull even closer, but on a fast break Smith was called for a charge, and a 3-pointer by Alysa Ito suddenly made it a nine point game at 49-40. Sonoma’s zone tightened up down the stretch, holding Chico State to just one field goal – a 3-pointer by Sharon Washington – over the final six minutes, and the Seawolves snuffed out any Wildcat hopes of a last-minute rally to win going away, 57-45.
BOX SCORE
Chico State is back in action Saturday, taking on Humboldt State, which brings a 13-4 record to Acker Gym thanks to an 82-63 win Friday over Cal State Stanislaus. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
