Recently, the Wildcats acquired four new women to play on the basketball team at Chico State. They are India Starr, Morgan Mathis, Stella Rollo and Jazmyne Lillie.

All four of these athletes come to Chico State as freshmen. Starr, Lillie and Mathis all play the position of point guard, while Rollo plays at forward and center.

Mathis came to Chico State after a phenomenal high school career at Buchanan High School in Clovis, Calif. She is very excited about joining the school and stepping onto the court to play with her new teammates.

“During the whole recruiting process, it was a pretty stressful process to go through, but when I started being recruited with Chico, it was really easy,” Mathis said. “It was just an easy decision.”

Mathis brings extraordinary accomplishments and records from her prior school that will be difficult for another to break soon — if ever.

“I am the all-time leading scorer at Buchanan High School,” Mathis said. “Last year, for my senior year, I actually finished 13th in the nation for the most three-pointers made in a season.”

With COVID-19 still prevalent, the girls can’t play while sports are shut down for the semester. However, they are still finding ways to stay active, so that when it comes time to step back out on the court, they are healthy, active and ready to go.

“It’s rough not being able to go into the gym and play with my other teammates,” Starr said. “I run around town and I lift. I play as much basketball as I can. We just try to do as much as we can as a team.”

Starr comes from San Diego where she played on the varsity team for all four years of high school at Del Norte High school. She is in a league of her own, becoming the first player at her school to score over 1,000 career points and lead the school in 3-point field goals. Starr has set goals for her sports career at Chico State.

“I want to break the 1,000 point record again in college,” Starr said. “I actually want to beat my high school record of over 1,000 points. I just want to keep continuing to progress and just be the best that I can. I want to be a good supportive teammate.”

Last season, the women’s basketball team finished the regular season with a record of 18-11. They did manage to clinch a playoff spot, but lost their first playoff game against the Cal State East Bay Pioneers on March 3 with a final score of 53-78.

With a team already that talented, the new recruits hope with their talents and ambitions, to make the team even better for a deeper playoff run in the future.

“Most of the team is short, so I’m bringing height to the team,” Rollo said. “I’m super quick on my feet, so not only can I jump up and rebound and go hard in the paint, but I also have quick feet for defense and I can get up and down the court with the team because I know that they play super quick too.”

Rollo, along with her teammates are anxious to return to action on the court once the pandemic is over. 

Alex Martin can be reached at [email protected] or @alexmartinjour on Twitter.