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Women's Basketball

Chico State Ends Toros Season in 90-70 NCAA West Regional

(PHOTO: SCOTT WU)
Box Score

POMONA -- Down by one entering the break, No. 5 seed Chico State exploded for 59 second half points in handing No. 4 seed Cal State Dominguez Hills a 90-70 defeat in the first round of the NCAA West Region.

Talia Rayford led all scorers with 26 points as the CCAA Tournament Champion Toros' season ends at 20-10.

"It was disappointing to lose the way we did, but this loss doesn't diminish the things we've done this year and the strides the program has made," begins head coach Molly Goodenbour, just in her second year at the helm of the program.

"All the credit goes to the players in stepping up their efforts through some adversity and putting it together for what was a fantastic run in the CCAA tournament and reaching the NCAA tournament."

Meeting for the fourth time this year, and the second in a week after the Toros roared back from a 15-point deficit to take a 12-point win in the CCAA Tournament semifinals, the two teams went at it from opening tip.

Chico State built an early 6-point lead twice, before a Monay Lee lay-up knotted the score at 14-14, the second of seven ties in the half.

Despite Lee picking up her second foul with just under seven minutes left and Garcia picking up her third with just over two minutes remaining, CSUDH entered the break up 32-31 on a Kielyn Wilson with nine ticks left, the only lead the Toros would enjoy.

After the break, the Wildcats took charge, scoring the first nine points before CSUDH picked up its first.

What was a close game in the first half saw Chico State run away in the second as the No. 5 seed built its first double-figure lead at the 14:34 mark, one that ballooned to 15 two minutes later.

Behind Rayford and Lee, CSUDH cut its deficit to 11, and to 10 at the 9:36 mark on a Rayford free throw.

But Chico State held firm, using a .640 shooting percentage in the second half to keep the Toros from making their comeback as stellar team free throw shooting, especially a 24-of-28 performance after the break, pushed the Wildcat lead to as large as 23 before the eventual 20-point win.

Lee added 14 in the loss while Tayler Champion chipped in with 12, with eight of her 10 misses coming from behind the arc.

CSUDH shot just 37.3% for the game including an un-Toro-like 5-of-25 from downtown.

CSUC's Courtney Hamilton and Jazmine Miller each put up a team-best 17 points, with two other Wildcats reaching the double-figure plateau.

The best rebounding team in the league, the Toros were out-boarded 38-to-35, with Rayford also pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds.

Looking forward to next season Goodenbour knows this is a learning experience, and will help make good teams into championship ones.

"I hope this leaves a bitter taste in their mouths in terms of wanting more and using this game as motivation, because it's not going to be easy," says Goodenbour, as some who's been there both as a coach and player.

"We've set a foundation this year and have given ourselves a reference point to what our expectations for next year should be, as well as perspective into where we are as a program and how we stack up against other teams.

"We reached some milestones that included beating every team in the league at least once, winning the CCAA Tournament and getting into the NCAA Tournament, but we know that we'll be a team that'll get every other team's best effort every night, and if we don't put in the work over the summer and in our preseason, and stay humble and hungry, then we won't have the outcomes that we'd all very much like to have," she concludes.

Having earned the CCAA Championship last Saturday, the Toros return their entire roster in 2014-15, looking to defend its crown and earn its second-ever win in NCAA postseason play.

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