The Wildcats get their shot at revenge Friday night when they’ll take on the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos in the first round of the NCAA DII Western Regional Tournament.
The Wildcats are up against the familiar Broncos squad. This matchup comes precisely one week after their 73-61 second-round loss when the Wildcats were on the back end of a back-to-back. This is the fourth time these opponents have faced off this season, and the Broncos hold a 2-1 edge.
“We just lost to them, so we see this as a second chance to keep our season going, and it’s time for revenge,” senior forward Makenzi Laporte said.
In last week’s contest, the Broncos’ sophomore guard Sydney Nelson was the driving force behind the Pomona offense, finishing with a game-high 29 points. After entering the second half with a four-point deficit, Buggs led her offense on a 14-0 run, creating an unattainable gap for the Wildcats.
“She’s [Nelson] a really talented player. She’s first-team all-league, so we’re just going to throw some different looks at her to get her off balance,” head coach Brian Fogel said.
After a fluctuating season, Chico State earned the seventh seed after finishing 23-7 overall and 17-5 throughout conference play. This is the second year in a row that the Wildcats are dancing in March after earning the fifth seed in the Western Region for the previous 2023-24 season.
The Wildcats had many signature wins this year, including road wins over Cal Poly Pomona, the No. 2, undefeated Cal State Dominguez Hills, and a 50+ point win over Cal State East Bay, where they reached the 100-point total for the first time in 18 years. However, one of their most crucial wins of the season came in the CCAA playoffs, where the Wildcats fended off Cal State LA Golden Eagles in an 84-74 win, effectively shutting the door on the Golden Eagles’ NCAA Tournament aspirations while simultaneously punching their own tickets.
The Wildcats are heading into Friday’s game with confidence,
led by their core of seniors, guards Jordan Allred and Jadence Clifton, and forwards Laporte and Meadow Aragon. Allred, Laporte and Aragon were all named to the All-CCAA Women’s First Team, while Clifton earned an honorable mention.
“This team has many people with two years of experience, and that helps out a lot with our chemistry,” Allred said. “I think our chemistry this year has grown much more, but we pass the ball very well and always know where each other are on the court.”
While both Division I and Division II tournaments crown a national champion, their structures differ significantly. Most notably, D1 culminates in the widely known ‘Final Four,’ whereas D2’s journey emphasizes the ‘Elite Eight.’
Both tournaments feature single-elimination play, but D1 involves 68 teams with ‘First Four’ play-in games, while D2 has a 64-team bracket with regional tournaments feeding into the Elite Eight.
The selection process also varies, with D1 focusing on national rankings and D2 emphasizing in-region performance and Division II metrics. Key factors include overall Division II and in-region winning percentages and regional strength. The committee also analyzes the strength of the schedule against Division II opponents, head-to-head results, and performance against common opponents. Reseeding never occurs in D1, however, in D2 teams are reseeded for the Elite Eight.
The Wildcats are slated to tip off with the Broncos at 5:30 p.m. on Friday at the Torodome in Carson. Chico State’s NCAA Tournament games will be broadcast locally on AM-1290 and FM 102.9 KPAY Sports Radio and streamed live on the NCAA’s website.
For information about all Chico State athletics or more links to the game, visit the Wildcat home page,
Lukas Mann can be reached at orionmanagingeditor@gmail.com
