CSUDH Can't Contain Wildcats as No. 21 Chico State Downs Toros, 70-50

Carson, CA - The Toros hopes of building on last week's win over Cal State Monterey Bay were quickly crushed as the No. 21 Chico State Wildcats came into town and hit on all cylinders early and often to hand CSUDH a 70-50 loss. With the loss, the Toros fall to 9-7, 3-6 CCAA, while CSUC improves to 14-4, 7-2 CCAA.

Brigayle Iglehart weaved her way to the basket to start the contest, but Chico State quickly took control and built a 9-2 lead on a layup by Jade Smith-Williams.

CSUDH played catch up over the next seven minutes of play and finally tied the contest at 16-16 on another bucket by Iglehart off a dish from Jessica Liang with 8:36 left in the half.

The nationally-ranked Wildcats were not phased and seemingly found a higher gear that the Toros failed to match as CSUC closed out the half on a 14-4 run, capped by a deep trey from Audriana Spencer, to put the Wildcats comfortably ahead at the break, 34-20.

In the first half CSUDH turned the ball over 15 times and were held to a 36.0 field goal percentage, compared to the Wildcats hitting 50% of their shots.

Even a 15-minute intermission could not help the Toro offense nor slow down the Wildcats as CSUC's lead swelled to 18 on a pair of free throws by Natasha Smith less than three minutes in.

The Wildcats were cruising along until a flurry of three-points shots put some life in the Toro offense. Liang, the CCAA leading long-range marksman, kicked it off at 15:20, and was followed by back-to-back treys from Kayla Montalvo before Liang hit another triple at the 11:59 mark to cut the deficit to just 13 at 49-36 with 12 minutes remaining.

However, teams do not earn a national ranking by falling apart and the Wildcats weathered the storm by pushing its lead to 20 after a steal and layup by Smith-Williams with just over five and a half minutes in the contest before putting its final stamp on the contest with a trey by Taylor Lydon with under a minute left.

The one disparity in the stat line came at the charity strip, with the Wildcats getting to the line 23 times to the Toros' eight.

Spencer led all scorers with 19 points while Smith chipped in 13 in the win.

Liang was the lone Toro in double figures with 11 points, hitting three of six from down town, while Montalvo added three triples for nine points. Iglehart and Whitney Gantt each chipped in eight points, with the latter also adding five rebounds.

CSUDH next hosts the Warriors of Cal State Stanislaus tomorrow, Saturday, January 26, at 5:30 pm in the Torodome.

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