Chico State Women’s Basketball were fresh off of their fourth win in a row, and had to defend their streak against the San Francisco Gators . 

Both teams came in with win streaks: One was going to leave with an extended streak, and the other with a blank slate. However, the Wildcats were too much for the Gators as they handled business at home.

After back-to-back 3-pointers from junior guards Bailey Jones and Myli Martinez, the Wildcats went up 9-2 early in the first quarter. 

The Gators would not let the momentum sway the Wildcats’ way, and ended the first quarter up 20-18. 

In the second quarter, the pace remained the same, as both teams matched each other’s buckets.

After a layup from freshman forward Mackenzi Laporte, the Wildcats were up 31-28 heading into the second half.

The key stat for the Wildcats was their ability to limit them to 0% from beyond the arc.

This would be the Wildcats fourth time in the past two games where their defense prevented the opponents from making a 3-pointer in a quarter during the Gators’ second quarter 3-point hiatus.

Jones said defense has come a long way after all the hard work the team has put into that aspect of the game.

“We have made such a big turnaround defensively,” Jones said. “Everything is clicking.”

The third quarter belonged to freshman guard, Charity Gallegos, who scored 11 of her game-high 20 points in the third quarter.

The Wildcats lead would go up to 18 points after a pair of free throws from Martinez. She said their defense is what made this run possible.

“When our defense is going, it gets our offense going,” Martinez said. “This allows us to play fast and tire teams out.”

A last-second prayer from Gator Taimane Lesa-Hardee cut the Wildcats lead to 51-36 as they headed into the last quarter. 

The Gators kept the game interesting up until the seven minute mark in the fourth quarter. 

Freshman guards Morgan Mathis and India Starr would sink back-to-back 3-pointers giving the Wildcats a 57-43 lead. 

The Wildcats would hold on to their lead, as they would defeat the Gators 69-52 and would go on to extend their win streak to five games.

The Wildcats were led by Gallegos who had 20 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

Gallegos said she doesn’t focus on her box score numbers, and mainly focuses her attention on the team’s success.

“I just focus on winning,” Gallegos said. “I am just trying to execute what coach Fogel asks from us.”

The Wildcats improved to 12-7 for the year and 9-5 in California Collegiate Athletic Association conference play.

With this victory, Chico State Women’s Basketball maintains third place in the CCAA standings. They have two weeks of regular season games to go And are heading to Southern California to finish their last road trip of the season. 

They will pay a visit to the Cal State LA Golden Eagles on Feb. 17 in Los Angeles and finish their road trip in San Marcos against the Cougars on Feb. 19. 

Martinez said this road trip is big and that the team has to stay locked in to finish on the right foot.

“We just have to stay focused,” Martinez said. “Most importantly we have to stay together.”

Javier Hernandez can be reached at [email protected] or @jhm1226 on Twitter.