Women’s basketball split two on the road last week, as the Broncos fell 73-65 on the road Thursday night versus Humboldt State, but regained form as they defeated Chico State 62-50 Saturday night.
Despite the loss, the Broncos still remain second in their conference with a 20-4 overall record and 16-3 versus opponents in their conference.
Junior forward Rebecca Islas had a team-high 18 points and also contributed with six rebounds and three assists. Ten of the forward’s 18 points came in the first quarter when she knocked down a three and made a couple layups.
“Just being aggressive, running the floor, just attacking the basket,” Islas said about her technique in the game.
In the first quarter, the Broncos shot the basketball fairly well from the 3-point line as they knocked down big shots that kept them in the game early on. Throughout the quarter, both teams went back and forth at each other, and the Broncos ended the quarter with a three from junior guard Mylah Andrada that took them into the second quarter with the lead by one.
Starting the second quarter, the Broncos came out and quickly got on the board after junior forward Kasey Smit went to the line and made both free throws. But the teams struggled shooting the ball and the Lumberjacks went on an 11-2 run that gave them the lead 33-25.
The Broncos ended the Jacks’ run with back-to-back baskets from junior guard Lauryn Catching and another one from Islas that brought them within two points of the Jacks. As the clock was winding down, the Broncos started shooting the ball well once again, when freshman guard Jayda Villareal shot a three and junior guard Que Vanhook made a jumper right after. That took them into the half down by four.
Coming into the third, the Jacks started hot as they got on the board quickly with back-to-back baskets. But midway through the third quarter, junior forward Monica Todd stole the ball on the defensive side and quickly turned it into a fast break for two points that brought the Broncos to within two points of the Jacks.
Later in the quarter with the clock at 4:32, Islas once again came up big for the Broncos when she scored back-to-back baskets that helped tie the game. The Jacks would answer with back-to-back buckets of their own that gave them the lead once again.
With less than two minutes left in the quarter, the Broncos went on a 5-0 run to tie the game going into the fourth quarter. Islas started the run when she drove into the paint and scored a layup that brought them within two of the Jacks.
Moments later she got the rebound on the defensive side of the ball after a missed 3-point shot by the Jacks. She then quickly tossed the ball to senior guard Jordyn Shane, and Shane quickly drove the ball up the court and dished it to junior guard Dominique Dotson, who with one second on the clock tied the game with a 3-point shot for the Broncos going into the fourth.
In the fourth quarter, the Broncos struggled shooting the ball as they shot 20 percent from the field, and were not able to contain the Jacks down the stretch. Humboldt sneaked past CPP at the end to win the game 73-65.
“We gave up 73 points, which we normally do not do that and we got outrebounded,” said head coach Danelle Bishop.
Junior guard Dotson led the Broncos with 16 points and five rebounds in the victory against Chico State.At the end of the first quarter, the Broncos had a 6-point lead, 20-14. The defense settled in for CPP as it only allowed five points in the entire quarter, giving the Broncos a 39-19 lead at the end of the half.
Shane recorded a double-double as she scored 12 points and gathered 12 rebounds.The Broncos’ defense held the Wildcats to just 31 percent from the floor. Chico State made a late push in the fourth quarter as it only allowed the Broncos to score six points, but the deficit was too large, giving the Broncos the victory.
With just three games left in the season, The Broncos will head home to take on Stanislaus State Thursday night with tip-off set at 5:30 p.m.