After a tough loss against Cal State East Bay, the Chico State women’s basketball team rebounded and beat the Cal State Monterey Bay Otters 68-53 in Monterey on Saturday night.

Both junior forward Brooke Bowen and senior guard Annie Ward had a career night leading the team with 19 points each. Ward went 5-8 on three-point shots, shooting 62.5 percent behind the arc.

Freshman guard Natalie Valenzuela had 10 points for the game to help the ‘Cats get the victory.

As a team, the Wildcats went 23-61 shooting from the field. The ‘Cats also made 13-15 free throws and had four of their 14 3-point shots go in. The Otters out rebounded the ‘Cats 49-30, but only had the lead for 3 minutes and 45 seconds the entire game.

The Wildcats largest lead of the night was 18 points in the second half.

The Wildcats forced 22 turnovers that they were able to turn into 27 points. Chico State had only nine turnovers the entire game.

“We played really well as a team tonight. We played like the team we know we are,” Bowen said. “Great defense and we were moving the ball and executing plays really well tonight. That’s the team we are and it just felt great to get the win.”

The Wildcats went 1-1 for the weekend, and will resume play on Jan. 30, when they face Cal State Los Angeles at home.

Lars Gustafson can be reached at [email protected] or @larsonsports on Twitter.