The Chico State women’s basketball team showed that chemistry and determination on the court brings desired outcomes. The Wildcats maintained paced movement with their immaculate passing and did not allow Stanislaus State to keep up throughout the night.

“This one is huge, it’s our first game at home and we have been waiting for this to happen,” Mckena Barker said. “Just getting a feel for what it’s like to play in Acker is awesome.”

Chico State came out ready to play taking the lead with less than a minute down on the clock. The Warriors quickly tied the game 2-2 but the Wildcats were not allowing any type of lead and shut them down. Once a nine-point lead was reached Stanislaus tried to fight back, but Chico was possessing the ball well not letting any shooting opportunities pass it by.

This left Stanislaus at a disadvantage because although the first quarter had equal possession, the team did not execute their shots. The quarter ended with Chico in the lead 20-10.

It seemed as though the Warriors were ready for a comeback in the second quarter scoring the first point. The Wildcats kept retaliating making sure they stayed in the lead. Stanislaus kept the points rolling in but not enough to come close to tying up the game.

The first half ended with Chico State leading 37-25, but were not done increasing the difference. As the third quarter took place, the Warriors were not ready for Shay Stark to drop nine points, two assists, and a steal.

“I’ve always been a person that reacts, so whatever the defense gives me I’ll take,” Stark said.

Stark alongside Brynn Thoming and Myli Martinez drove the offense successfully and gave Stanislaus a lot of obstacles to overcome such a large lead. The Wildcats found the Warriors weakness and easily broke through the defense.

Chico State dominated the third quarter scoring 29 points in the period and only allowing Stanislaus to score 14.

“Our chemistry is amazing, I love my teammates and it really shows on the court,” Stark said. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and we play to those.”

With only three minutes into the fourth quarter the Wildcats lead the game by 34 points, the largest lead of the night. This did not stop the Warriors, they kept a steady rhythm on the court getting themselves on the scoreboard.

Stanislaus was able to score 24 points in the fourth quarter, which was their best scoring period of the game. But it was nowhere near getting any lead over Chico even though the ‘Cats only scored 14 points in the quarter.

“Tonight was just a game where you remember why you started playing basketball,” Barker said.

The team looks forward to face off against the California State University, East Bay Pioneers on Dec. 8 at 5:30 p.m. in Acker Gym.

Lucero Del Rayo can be reached at [email protected] or @del_rayo98 on Twitter.