With national television and a good chance to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Chico State women’s basketball team let a good chance slip away when they lost 66-49 against the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos on Friday, Feb. 19 at home.

The loss is the Wildcats’ third straight and drops their record to 10-13 and 5-15 in conference play.

First quarter: The game opened with both teams struggling to make a shot and playing solid defense. The game was played at a high tempo and no shot came easy for either team. The lead changed several times within the first quarter and it also featured Chico State’s biggest lead of the game, which was just three points.

Second quarter: The second quarter was the most even 10 minutes of the contest. After taking the lead to end the first, the Broncos were held to just eight points during the quarter and allowed the ‘Cats to get right back in the game. During the quarter the Broncos showed their physical game and would cause problems for the Wildcats in the second half. Heading into halftime the score was tied at 21.

Third quarter: The second half opened much different than the first. The Broncos came out strong and quickly gained the lead. Although they were being out-matched physically, Chico State would not go down without a fight. They managed to get some points on the board but it wasn’t enough as Pomona scored 22 points in the quarter alone.

Fourth quarter: The final 10 minutes of play seemed like they would play out like the previous two quarters as the ‘Cats managed to cut into Pomona’s lead. At one point the Wildcats were only down five points, but that was the closest they were going to get as the Broncos did not slip up and eventually won the game.

Top performers:
McKena Barker – 16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists
Sammy DeHart – 8 points, 5 rebounds
Whitney Branham – 7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists

The Wildcats’ next game will be at home against Humboldt State on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 5:30 p.m.

Carlos Islas can be reached at [email protected] or @cIslasReports on Twitter.