The Chico State Women’s Basketball team continued their win streak after defeating the Monterey Bay Otters, who were fresh off their second win on the season. 

A strength versus a weakness: the Wildcats are 5-2 at Acker Gym, while the Otters are 1-8 away from home. 

The scorching Wildcats were dominant in the third of four games in their home stand. 

In the first quarter, the Wildcats and Otters were matching each other’s buckets. After a layup from freshman forward Mackenzi Laporte, the first quarter would end 18-18.

During the first eight minutes of the second quarter, the Wildcats would go on a 16-0 run.

After a layup from junior forward Haley Ison, the Wildcats headed into halftime up 36-20. 

Head coach Brian Fogel said the team tightened the screws and forced the Otters to get uncomfortable.

“We did a nice job of making them play faster and made them get out of their rhythm,” Fogel said.

The Wildcats continued to turn up their defensive intensity, allowing only one Otter field goal in the whole quarter.

The suffocating Wildcat defense limited the Otters to 8% from the field and 0% from beyond the arc.

At the five minute mark in the third quarter, junior guard Myli Martinez sank in a layup to give the Wildcats a 46-26 lead. 

After this bucket the Wildcats maintained at least a 20-point lead for the rest of the game. 

With less than 20 seconds remaining in the third quarter, freshman guard Morgan Mathis sank in a 3-pointer, which propelled the Wildcats to their largest lead of the third quarter at 59-26.

The Wildcat defense continued to lock down as they limited the Otters to 23% from the field and 0% from beyond the arc.

With seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, freshman guard Jazmyne Lillie would hit a jump shot to give the Wildcats their biggest lead of the game at 66-31.

The Wildcats were led by Laporte, who scored 16 points off the bench, which was a career high.

“It is always about the team,” Laporte said. “We gel well together, our offense was executing well today.”

The Wildcats did not look back and dominated the Otters, 76-53. They improved their win streak to four in a row, and their record to 11-7 on the season.

Chico State Women’s Basketball maintains third place in the California Collegiate Athletic Conference with this win. 

In conference play the standings are determined by conference wins, therefore the race for third is tight, as there are three teams with eight conference wins heading into the weekend games. 

Mathis said the team is focused and working toward securing a playoff spot.

“We want to be in the playoffs,” Mathis said. “We are pushing ourselves in the gym and weight room to set ourselves up in the best position.”

The Wildcats will attempt to prolong their win streak when they host the San Francisco State Gators at Acker Gym at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 12. 

Ison said the team just has to keep doing what they have been doing over the past month to continue their success.

“We, as leaders, emphasize that everyone here has a role to play,” Ison said. “Just have to make sure whoever is having a good game continues to get fed the ball.” 
Javier Hernandez can be reached at [email protected] or @jhm1226 on Twitter.