Chico State suffered a heartbreaking 79-73 loss Saturday evening at the hands of the Central Washington Wildcats.
With Chico upsetting the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos and Central Washington taking down the second-seeded Point Loma Sea Lions 24 hours prior, both Wildcat teams were set to face off in the NCAA Western Regional Semifinals. This is the furthest Chico State has gone in the tournament since the 2013-14 season, when they lost to the Broncos in the semifinal round.
Saturday’s defining difference came from behind the arc as Central Washington connected on 10 more three-pointers than Chico, shooting 14-of-30 on the game. However, Chico State wasn’t going down without a fight, shooting 37.7% from the floor, hitting 28 of their 75 shot attempts. Their only lead came early in the second half, but it was short-lived after one of Central Washington’s many three-pointers.
Chico State seniors, guard Jordan Allred and forward Makenzi Laporte, were huge offensively, combining for 55 of their team’s 79 points, with Allred scoring 22 and Laporte collecting a team-high 23 points.
Laporte ended her hall-of-fame-esque career doing what she did best for the Wildcats, finishing with 1,253 points. She was the 11th member to join the 1,000-point club and has the tenth most points scored in Chico State women’s basketball history. She also earned All-CCAA honors in back-to-back seasons and is the sixth Wildcat to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
Allred finishes her collegiate career excellently, coming up only three assists and one rebound shy of being the third Wildcat in program history to record a triple-double. Senior forwards Ashleigh Barr and Meadow Aragon also made their presence felt, with Barr scoring a season-high 11 points and Aragon grabbing a game-high seven offensive rebounds en route to 12 for the evening.
Chico State ends their season with 24 wins and eight losses, going 17-5 in the CCAA. These are the most single-season wins in head coach Brian Fogel’s 16-year tenure. The six seniors, Allred, Aragon, Barr, Laporte, and guards Jadence Clifton and Ciarah Michalik, are set to graduate this year, gearing next year’s team to reload on talent. These six Wildcats also averaged the most minutes per game on the team.
“Our six seniors have definitely left Chico State a better place, and I’m so grateful for that,” Fogel said. “The character these kids had and the fight is absolutely amazing, it was an incredible run.”
After a season filled with magical comebacks, decade-long records being broken, and statement wins against top schools in the nation, Chico State has much to hang its hat on. Even though they didn’t come out of it with any hardware, the 2024-25 season should be looked at as nothing short of a success.
For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the games live, visit the Wildcat home page, or watch through FloSports.
Lukas Mann can be reached at orionmanagingeditor@gmail.com.
