A 27-point fourth quarter fueled Chico State’s women’s basketball team to an 81-68 win over Sonoma State in their final Thursday night home game.
Reigning Conference Women’s Player of the Week, Jadence Clifton was vital to the win with yet another efficient performance. Clifton contributed 14 points, connecting on four of her five shots from the floor to go with a perfect 4-of-4 from the line. Senior forward Meadow Aragon shared a team-high in points with her fellow senior, Jordan Allred, both finishing with 19.
“My teammates just give me their support and confidence every single day to go out there, and I really just play for them,” Clifton said.
It was an end-to-end game through the first 20 minutes, with both teams trading tough shot after tough shot. The Seawolves senior point guard Jayme Blackard poured on 18 of her career-high 26 points in the first half. Her performance helped the Seawolves amass a three-point lead going into the halfway mark.
“Halftime we came in and said we needed to pick it up on the defensive end and we came out and did that from the start,” Clifton said.
After a fairly-even third quarter, the Wildcats found themselves down only one possession heading into the final 10 minutes of play. However, Allred had something to say about it, scoring 12 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter and being the spark plug to Chico’s offensive outburst.
“The trust we have within this team is what makes us so great,” Allred said. “We share the ball, and we’re all really good basketball players. It’s just great to play with a team like this.”
With Thursday’s win, the Wildcats secured the No. 3 seed towards the California Collegiate Athletic Association playoff tournament. A pair of wins over Cal State LA and the previously undefeated No. 3 Cal State Dominguez Hills, helped the Wildcats obtain the eighth and final spot in the NCAA Western Regional Polls.
“We’re not only looking to win our conference but we’re looking to get into regionals,” Allred said. “We’ve won really big games over our last three, and I think we’ve found each other at the end of the season and I think that’s when it matters the most.”
The Wildcats improved to 21-6 on the year and 16-5 through conference play. Their final game of the season will play out in the Acker Gymnasium on Saturday at 1 p.m. against the Cal State San Marcos Cougars. The team seems to be finding their form in the most crucial points in the season and are playing with a must-win mindset going forward.
The team will honor its six seniors, including Ashleigh Barr and the entire starting five of Ciara Michalik, Allred, Makenzi Laporte, Clifton and Aragon.
Home games are free to attend for students who present their student ID or Canvas home page.
For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the game live, visit the Wildcat home page, or watch through FloSports.
Lukas Mann can be reached at orionmanagingeditor@gmail.com.
