The Litter Box

If it wasn't clear before Friday night's road win over Cal State Dominguez Hills, it is now: the Chico State women's basketball team is a defensive force. The Wildcats have been downright dominant in the first half over the past two weeks, and it's evident right now that defense has been the catalyst for No. 21 Chico State's success.

They say it's defense and rebounding that leads to offense, and the stats make it hard to argue: The Wildcats lead the California Collegiate Athletic Association in average rebounding margin (+7.4) and defensive rebounds (556) and are second in the conference in scoring defense. All that adds up to an average winning margin of 10.8, easily tops in the CCAA.

Of course, the offense is working too, leading the conference in assists per game behind the growingly expert point game of Jade Smith-Williams, who went for eight points and five assists in 31 minutes of play Friday night. Watching the sophomore point guard, it's clear that her personality and style of play is a reflection on Molly Goodenbour, and it rubs off on the rest of the team, once again tied for first in the CCAA.

The men have not been as fortunate (or, to be blunt, as good). They never contended against the Toros on Friday night. Why? Take your pick. The Wildcats turned the ball over 30 times. They shot 9-of-29 in the first half, including 3-of-16 on 3-pointers (try not to grind those teeth). That mark improved to 29 percent by the end of the game. Chico State committed 31 fouls to the Toros' 18.
All this means that Chico State, "where our men are squarer," is now squarely at the bottom of the CCAA standings all by its lonesome.

There are some telling figures as to why this is, but one of the biggest is 11 — as in, No. 11 (dead last) in the conference in defensive rebounds per game. The fact that Chico State has the second-fewest free-throw attempts is another; both figures speak to the Wildcats' inability to drive to the basket.

On the plus side, Darroll Phillips continues to be Chico State's trigger man, but that can only go so far, as we've seen. He's a pure scorer with some defensive flash, but he's a security blanket. It can't always be him. One good sign, though: he went 10-for-10 from the free throw line Friday, an indication that he realizes Chico State's need for a driving presence.

Another issue for Chico State: Poor Justin Argenal just can't get a break. He played 32 minutes Friday, but out of necessity. There really is no quality backup point guard on this team. Jesse Soto, as much as I like him at the 3 (even though he's more of a 2), turned the ball over eight times. Ryan Smith had just one, but also contributed next to nothing on the stat page — no assists, no steals, two points, no rebounds.

Add on to all of this that Frank Igbekoyi is getting just 16 minutes a game with only two field goals, and it's clear that the laundry list of problems for the Wildcats might be overwhelming at this point.

Posted by Travis Souders at 04:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Maybe Chico State women's basketball fans had been spoiled up until Saturday. With the way the Wildcats had been playing, it would have been hard to predict a break not going in their direction. Not only that, but Chico State's defense had given up 20 first-half points combined over its previous two games, both wins.
The loss to Sonoma State was a thriller, no doubt, but could it have broken hearts in a more excruciating fashion than the buzzer-beating shot going in — and Audriana Spencer, who's hit 168 3-pointers in the three-plus years she's been around, being inches too close?

Audriana Spencer has 168 3-pointers. On Saturday night, the Wildcats could have used her 169th. (Jason Halley/Enterprise-Record)

Chico State basketball has found some extraordinary ways to lose this season, though this was the first for the women. I don't say that in the Oakland Raiders sense, as in, "Keep close to them and they'll find a way to lose," but moreso in the "What the —— just happened?" sense. In chest-thumping pride matters, I'm not sure that a weekend split, including a loss to the top team in the conference on the road, justifies a drop to No. 21 from No. 16 in Division II (Sonoma State broke in at No. 25), but I'm sure that's far from the minds of anyone involved.

Meanwhile, the men did suffer their fifth straight loss, but in battling Humboldt State, I still can't call Chico State a "bad team" yet. A major deciding force in that appraisal is Mike Martin, who got the start at center and, as the kids say, played out of his freakin' skull. The big man finally showed a full game's worth of what he's capable of, with 29 points and nine boards against a team picked by CCAA coaches to win the conference. Not too shabby. He had a nice game against Sonoma State, as well, but from the sound of things and the final box score, the Wildcats were pretty much tapped out after the tough loss to the Lumberjacks.

So, where do the men go from here? Tough to say, other than "Southern California." There's no doubt there's talent there, but mental toughness and will ebb more often than they flow so far. It's clear now the good and bad of this team. The good? Martin (when he's at his best) is, as I've thought since I first saw him play, a legit CCAA beast who can control games. Justin Argenal, though slumping lately, is still one of the conference's best points. Darroll Phillips is the sharpshooter. We knew these.

But other than Phillips and Martin, this team doesn't make free throws. That's cost them two, maybe three wins right there (SF State, Cal Poly Pomona and possibly Humboldt State). The Wildcats shoot 70 percent from the line — their opponents are about the same; the difference is that they've gotten there about 100 more times — but take away Phillips and Martin, and they're more like 66 percent. Ick.

The Wildcats, for all their talk of wanting to be an inside team, hoist 3s ad nauseum (man, that phrase is perfect) and don't make a spectacular amount (about 37 percent). That's about average, but if you're going to do it as much as they do, you'd kind of want a reason for it, along the lines of "We never miss 3s." They have the inside people; they just need to involve them more.

One thing I like, though, is the recent start of Josh Jackson. This blog has previously sung the praises of the energetic guard, and he proved his mettle in the Humboldt State game with a pair of huge 3s (go figure). I like him off the bench because of his energy, but he is a nice player in the starting five, too. If only he could get that FT percentage (.286) up, his as-of-yet-rarely-shown ability to get to the rack could manifest itself in the Wildcat offense.

Posted by Travis Souders at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't know how ready I am for this.
With Chico State announcing five new softball players and the ever-creeping date of Feb. 1, I'm having trouble foreseeing any kind of sport that involves catchers and pitchers reporting.
Doesn't it seem strange to anyone else that baseball and softball — remember, "boys of summer" and all that jazz — is going to get started before March Madness does? Sure, it's not new, but it's just a little bit of a mind-blower.
So, over the next two weeks, keep your eyes open for previews on the Chico State teams, but I won't be surprised if there's not a lot of insight available yet.
I will say this, though: The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, and that will help prepare everyone for the season. I know that every time I can walk out of my front door in a T-shirt and feel the sun on my back, I get an urge to sprawl out on some bleachers and watch some innings.
Still, for "spring training" to come before spring is a rough transition.

Posted by Travis Souders at 09:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Forgive my tardiness on this week's Report Cards, as personal matters got in the way of me getting to a blog I don't get paid to write. Still, I'm left with some different perspectives on both the Chico State basketball teams after this weekend.

Normally, I'd split these bad boys up, but I'm feeling wordy and I think it's about time I had a massive entry. Besides, I just traded off covering a Division VI high school game for some time in the office, and you'd better believe I'll make the most of it.

Let's start with the men's weekend, for alphabetical purposes.
Friday
It's hard to overstate just how crushing the defeat to Cal Poly Pomona was, because for all intents and purposes, the Wildcats had that game won. That was the second straight such defeat, dating back to last week's loss to San Francisco State. But, like in that game, I still think the Wildcats were better than the team that beat them. I usually don't buy into the whole "the better team lost" thing, but in this case, it's hard not to. They show so much potential and ability at times, only to find ways to let other teams in. Yes, they're young, and that's probably the biggest factor here, but the truth is that Chico State should have had a 3-1 homestand over the last two weeks.

More on the Pomona game:
UPS
For once, a steady hand. Chico State got its first "complete" game of the season, never really burying itself so deep it couldn't come back. That's a nice sign. The Broncos are definitely no slouches and have their share of players, so for the Wildcats to hang the whole time and, for stretches, outplay Pomona, showed what Chico State really is capable of.

Half-court offense. This might have been the Wildcats' best offensive performance of the season in terms of patience for the best shot. Up until the very end, Chico State took exquisite care of the ball, looked active in its half-court sets and truly didn't give away possessions. There were obviously things that could have been done better, but on offense — especially around the perimeter — it was largely Chico State's finest hour of the year.

DOWNS
"Whaa....?" That's what I found myself asking after I saw a 2-point lead turn into a 3-point loss in the span of less than 16 seconds. How did that happen? For one, presence of mind (or lack thereof) was instrumental. Let's start with the Wildcats with a 2-point lead, the ball and two timeouts, and the Broncos with no fouls to give and no other way to stop the clock. On the inbound pass, Darroll Phillips (whose 21 points were huge in the Wildcats even having the lead) stepped out of bounds.
Why doesn't he have instructions to just stand there and hold it for five seconds? He's going to get fouled; there's no question. He shouldn't have moved. Burn the clock, get to the line, sink the FTs. That's the tried-and-true formula for protecting a lead in the last minute. Chico State did none of it.
Then, after Pomona tied it, the Wildcats give them possession right back by a halfcourt charge that saw them try to storm down in five seconds (I'm not sure what kind of shot was expected to come from this strategy). They had two timeouts; it seemed like this was the time to use one. Set up a play, get a shot. Instead, a timeout was used after the turnover, which gave Pomona ample time to — get this — draw up an open shot for Angelo Tsagarakis, the one guy who should have been so deep in Wildcat defenders that he couldn't breathe. Another inexplicable final sequence.

Saturday
Not to say the Wildcats had it coming in their loss to the Coyotes, but Cal State San Bernardino is a tremendous ballclub. I don't know how much I buy into the "hangover" talk from Friday night's letdown; I guess, to some degree, it had an effect, but this is one of the teams Chico State actually does not match up with. The Coyotes are big, athletic and play a defense that's as good as any I've seen.

UPS
Errm.... This was just not a good game for Chico State. The intensity wasn't there, and the same offensive ability wasn't, either. Granted, the Coyotes fly to the ball hellaciously. I haven't seen a team play such active defense in CCAA play, maybe ever. Yeah, they have their scorers, and I'll have to see Humboldt State in person, but right now, Cal State San Bernardino is the top dog in this conference because of its defense. You know how you'll play Madden sometimes and the computer always seems to have a triple team on every pass you throw? That's what it was like watching the Coyotes defend.

DOWNS
Please, get to the rim, someone. It's hard to nitpick in a loss like this, ugly as it was, because the Coyotes have so much going right for them. Still, you know what I'd love to see? Mike Martin face the basket and posterize someone. Or Josh Jackson take a ball off the wing and penetrate and attack the hoop. Or something besides this assortment of fallaway shots and desperation 3s (by the way, Chico State still takes way too many of them). Martin in particular stands out as the one guy who should be taking games over.
The more I see him, the clearer it is that he is this team's best athlete and probably the toughest matchup for any CCAA team to defend. But he doesn't take advantage of it, at least not all the time. Channeling Bill Walton, here: "Throw down, big man, throw down."
God, that hurt a little. But it was necessary.

Now, for some better news. The women moved up two spots in Division II to No. 16 after a weekend sweep of Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino; the game against the Coyotes was one of the most inspired defensive efforts the Wildcats have put on. Twelve points into the second half? Yikes.
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's get back to some chronology.

Friday
Yuck. That was the general consensus of anyone who watched this game, including the Wildcats themselves. No, it wasn't pretty, but Chico State took it fairly handily, still. Lots of turnovers, lots of missed shots and lots of grit.

UPS
Speaking of grit... Amanda Monteith doesn't score a lot, but makes up for it a ton on the defensive end. I find it tough to call a 5-foot-9 banger "scrappy," but that's exactly what she is. She's on the floor all the time and plays with just enough of a chip that I would only be mildly surprised if she pulled a Zidane-esque headbutt. I love the way she plays defense.

Obscure no more. Melissa Richardson shook off the title of "unheralded" by picking up the CCAA Player of the Week award for this weekend's games. If she were ever to write a basketball resumé, she could put down "hits decisive 3s with regularity" down as a bulletpoint, along with "grabs every loose ball."

DOWNS
Yeah, all those turnovers. One of the most perplexing statistics I've ever seen is the Wildcats' record under Molly Goodenbour when they turn the ball over more than their opponent. That mark is 13-0 after this weekend, a goofy anomaly that goes against all that is right and pure. You're not supposed to win if you can't hang on to the ball, right? Well, I wouldn't fall too deeply in love with that figure. The law of averages looms heavily over it, especially on the road. Sooner or later, it could catch up.

Saturday
I won't lie; I was pumped to see Cal State San Bernardino and phenom Vanessa Wilt come to town. It was kind of foregone that Monteith would be tasked with covering her, but would it be enough? The Coyotes came to Chico with a ton of pretense and reputation, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who thought this might be a battle of CCAA titans.
I won't go as far as saying I was let down — after all, I did see something I hadn't seen before — but it was pretty clear the Coyotes were road-weary.

UPS
45-12?! I usually abstain from exclamation points, especially coupled with question marks, but that was the largest lead for Chico State as late as the second half. I expected a defensive focus, but this was intense. I found myself wondering what the modern school record was for fewest points allowed was (a late Coyotes surge made me toss the knowledge out the window, but still).

Welcome back to the fray, Renee. Post Renee Goldoff's impact and minutes had taken somewhat of a hit since Goodenbour went to a smaller starting five, but she showed how important she can be Saturday. Since the preseason schedule, this was as aggressive as I've seen her play offensively, and with all the scoring guard-types on this team, it's easy to forget just how good Goldoff's post moves are. The Wildcats are markedly better when she's playing to her potential.

Edwards' emergence. Cory Edwards' name has been popping up in almost every Goodenbour postgame interview over the last four games, and with good reason. A deep bench fixture last year, Edwards is now a top option in the post and has shown a pretty nice shooting touch from range, too. Where she really stands out, I think, is her ability to get from the high post to the blocks and move a defense with her, and she passes very well. Her rebounding ability also makes her invaluable, especially in a reserve role.

DOWNS
Second-half swoon. It may have been because the Wildcats' subs got in or that the Coyotes' shots started falling, but a sizable second-half run got Cal State San Bernardino to within respectability. Is that really that big of a down? I don't think so, but what I found to be in poor taste was that the Coyotes were fouling — sometimes borderline flagrantly — to stop the clock. When a meaningless buzzer-beating 3 went down for them, they emptied the benches and celebrated on the winners' home floor, the collegiate basketball equivalent of raising a large, stiff middle finger to the hosts.
Bush league.

Posted by Travis Souders at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Chico State women's basketball team moved up four spots in the latest USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll, jumping to No. 18 after last week's pair of conference home wins.

I'd love to give you some regional rankings, but for some reason, Division II's latest "update" is current as of Feb. 27. If you have any kind of sense of time, you'll realize that that's almost a year ago. It is worth noting, though, that in the Coaches' Top 25, only two other teams from the West — Seattle Pacific at No. 6 and Alaska Anchorage at No. 7 — are ahead of the Wildcats.

In related news (and news that helps prove me right), the California Collegiate Athletic Association is a jumbled mess early on. Where I'm wrong, though, is my thinking that UC San Diego was a top contender. The Tritons have shown over the last week that they can lose on the road, and rather heartily, getting their butts kicked by middle-of-the-road Humboldt State and upstart Sonoma State. Cal State San Bernardino, previously mentioned in this blog space as merely competitive, looks legit at 10-1 with a 4-0 CCAA mark and stud Vanessa Wilt having already picked up four CCAA Player of the Week awards.

The Wildcats will get that test on Saturday; tonight they face Cal Poly Pomona, which is perfectly .500.

Posted by Travis Souders at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chico State sports information announced two roster changes for the men's team today, with both effective for this weekend's California Collegiate Athletic Association doubleheader.
Reserves Luis Santiago and Coby Walker won't suit up, as their jerseys and places on the bench will be replaced by Casey Moll and Charles Wilson, respectively.
Santiago was averaging just more than 7 minutes per game, averaging 2.2 points and 2.1 rebounds. Walker appeared in just one game, playing four minutes.

Of the two, Santiago is obviously the most surprising move, though that's not saying much. The emergence of Shane Bradley as a viable bench option to spell Frank Igbekoyi — as well as Mike Martin's proven ability to back up at center if needed — probably paved the way for this move. Santiago is a big body and has decent hands around the basket, but is definitely freshman raw. We'll have to wait and see what Moll and Wilson bring and how much they'll be used.

Posted by Travis Souders at 05:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It was a different face but a familiar one taking over for the Chico State women's basketball team against San Francisco State, with Audi Spencer taking her turn to lead the Wildcats in scoring in a 61-46 win.
Spencer's season-high 19 points came after she was on the floor notably early before the game, popping shots to regain her touch. Obviously, it worked, and she was on fire to start out the game.

UPS
Balancing act. Other than Spencer, no Wildcat touched double figures in points, but many came close. Jade Smith-Williams and Cory Edwards had nine, and Natasha Smith, Melissa Richardson and Renee Goldoff each had eight. Coach Molly Goodenbour, who I'm discovering to be quite the stat-hound, was visibly pleased with this advent (also, she said "I'm really pleased with our balance").

Nice figures. Shooting figures, of course. One of the other stats Goodenbour gives a lot of credence to is the shooting percentage and shooting percentage allowed marks; she says she likes her team to hit at about 45 percent and allow somewhere around 37. The Wildcats shot 43.8 percent, while the Gators were right at 35.3, a sign that 1) Chico State's shots are falling with some regularity now and 2) the defense is doing some solid work.

DOWNS
Uhhhhh... Boy, there sure weren't many in this game. There was the 7-0 run from the Gators to end the half, but in all honesty the Wildcats never trailed, nor were they challenged for momentum.

Posted by Travis Souders at 04:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Wildcats men's dangerous style of play — lose the lead, keep it close, ride momentum and grab a home win — finally caught up with them on Friday in a 67-66 loss to San Francisco State.
Regardless of the outcome, though, I'm certain of it: Chico State is the better team of the two. The only difference was that the Gators played harder for longer stretches more often. Rod Hawkins' diving steal that set up the Wildcats with a chance to win it at the end was representative of everything good about Chico State. The following offensive sequence wasn't:
It went inbound, spread the floor, have Justin Argenal control the ball until Darroll Phillips was seemingly open in the high post, get Phillips the ball at the corner, where he was immediately doubled and pressured into a bad pass to Martin on the wing, have Martin drive wildly into the key to dish back to Hawkins on the wing with five seconds left, watch Hawkins try to lean forward and draw a foul while hoisting a 3, and lose the game when Jesse Soto's tough shot at the buzzer misses.
That 30 seconds was perplexing, maybe because at the 12-second mark, when it was clear nothing was happening, Chico State could have used one of its two remaining timeouts. Even then, a flat-style drive from Argenal could have been appropriate. I understand getting the ball in Phillips' hands; he's the team's best free-throw shooter (and, I might add, there was an awful lot of contact when he was doubled). But, no use questioning 30 seconds out of 40 minutes. Chico State didn't lose the game in that stretch.

UPS
Big Mo. No, I'm not talking about Maurice Baker (who, by the way, could probably give a visual definition of a game face to Bob Knight. The dude's intense). The Wildcats, for better or for worse — and we'll get to both sides in a second — clearly rely on momentum at this point in the season, and when a 17-2 run got them down, they responded with a 27-8 streak of their own. That's nice to see from a team at home.

The One They Call 'D'. Phillips continues to be an assertive scorer, with his four 3-pointers keying aforementioned momentum. His 20 points were a game-high. When he's got the hot hand, everyone in the gym knows it — including his ubiquitous female fan following, which coos at him every chance it gets — and it's almost a little surprising that there isn't just a "get D the ball" set somewhere in that playbook. He's that good.

DOWNS
This seems so familiar... It's not the loss of the lead that hurts coach Puck Smith as much as it is the departure of intense, quality basketball. Is this theme repetitive by now? Check your pockets, and whatever you pull out, put it on "yes." It sucks having to keep writing about this, but, incredibly more important, it sucks for Smith to have to watch it.

Freebies. It's almost unfair to point this out as a low point for the Wildcats, who went 12-of-20 from the free throw line, because San Francisco State was an even-worse 6-of-16. But two more makes for Chico State (that puts them at 70 percent) wins the game.

Posted by Travis Souders at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chico State coach Molly Goodenbour had told me over the phone how impressed she was with the recent play of Natasha Smith, but given the Wildcats' nine-game road trip, I hadn't gotten a chance to witness it.
My appraisal from Friday night?
Smith does whatever she wants.
The freshman had a career-high 25 points in helping the No. 22 team in Division II improve to 9-3.

Thoughts on Friday's performance:
UPS
Duh. Obviously, Smith was the big story here. Her come-uppance has been such that Goodenbour has tinkered with her starting lineup to take advantage of Smith's speed and energy, going to a smaller, faster five and bringing stud post Renee Goldoff off the bench. Smith was lights-out shooting, and had her nose in every play. Remember the spark Jade Smith-Williams was last year as a freshman? Smith is this year's version.

Melissa Richardson. Everyone's favorite headbanded wing again flew under the radar with a complete performance, and it was her play down the stretch that was the final dagger in the Otters' side (I don't know if that analogy is awesome or gruesome. Let's go with both). Richardson might be the most unheralded of all the starters for Chico State, but it'd be hard to tell where the Wildcats would be without her. She doesn't draw tons of attention, for some reason, but definitely deserves it.

DOWNS
Send 'em packing. A 16-point lead was cut to seven in the second half, and even though the final result was a blowout, there's little doubt Chico State would be just fine if it never surrendered a nine-point run again.

Little things.Goodenbour hinted that there was "some stuff" that needed adjusting, but that it was small stuff. A few times in the half-court offense, some perimeter cuts were missed and Smith-Williams was forced to play in isolation, and once it resulted in a shot clock violation. Keep in mind that it's still a young team, though, and those kinds of small errors will — one would hope — be corrected soon enough.

Posted by Travis Souders at 04:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is with a good amount of wariness that I'll note the Wildcat men's 4-0 home record, the result of a Chico State sweep of Cal State Monterey Bay on Friday night. As every Wildcat has made abundantly clear, 2008's goal is to not lose at home. At first, it seems like silly talk, given the tough competition in the California Collegiate Athletic Association and, for some context, the Wildcats' rough home performance last season.
But, I keep leaving Acker Gym fairly impressed, and anyone who watches them has to be convinced: the men, at least for stretches, can be not only immensely fun to watch but a good basketball team.

Let's do some subjective analysis with bold, upper-cased headers:

UPS
Sharing is caring. Five Wildcats touched double figures, with Mike Martin (15), Justin Argenal (14), Darroll Phillips (12), Josh Jackson (12) and Shane Bradley (11) all doing their part. It's easily the most spread-out performance for Chico State this season, as opposed to their nonconference home games in which they had been relying on Phillips' 3-point touch (which was denied all game by the Otters). Instead, guards and forwards alike pounded the lane and took the mid-range stuff. The result: Chico State had more assists than turnovers.

Bradley bail-out. All of the first half, the big man struggled to finish but still provided the rebounding and toughness down low. Still, the lack of points by halftime had Bradley a bit rattled. But coach Puck Smith insisted to his center that he was playing well and just had to finish; the second half saw him do it. In fact, there were stretches when he looked truly dominant, and when the Wildcats needed him the most. One more post presence never hurts.

Going for a drive. With the exception of two Martin launches early in the shot clock (both of which went in, just to highlight what a complainer I am), Chico State looked determined to run offensive sets and get good shots. Even in transition — keyed by some amazing looks from Argenal — the Wildcats were in control and took care of the ball.

DOWNS
Hang. On. To. The. Lead. Smith would probably like to tattoo those words across the face of everybody involved with his team, since the Wildcats have just one instance in 10 tries of closing out a game forcefully. The Otters retook the lead in the second half after Chico State had control, with Bradley's aforementioned deeds and some defensive focus finally holding off the surge. They know it, though: it's conference time. Leads are precious.

Foul trouble. Two Wildcats (Martin and Bradley) fouled out, and Frank Igbekoyi and Argenal both had four fouls apiece. It's kind of a misleading stat, since it's all subject to the officiating crew (and there were some doozies in there, I don't have a problem saying), but if Cal State Monterey Bay wasn't as atrocious from the free throw line as it was, the Otters have a much better chance at leaving Chico a winner.

Posted by Travis Souders at 03:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you're an oblivious idiot, then you haven't noticed the mess last night's storm has left Chico in (and you're also responsible for driving like it's your first time). Power is out in a significant number of grids throughout the city; I say "significant number" because I don't have a concrete figure to give you.

However, one of those grids includes my humble Ivy Street abode, which, if you'll remember, is right down the street from Acker Gym. But a call to Chico State athletic director Anita Barker confirmed that both Cal State Monterey Bay and Chico State are there and ready to go, and Acker has had full power all day, meaning both the women and men will tango tonight. So show up. The women will kick off their California Collegiate Athletic Association schedule at 5:30, and the men will try to make like UnderArmor and defend their house as well.

Posted by Travis Souders at 03:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As Friday approaches, there's a little bit of an itch for these California Collegiate Athletic Association games to start. For one, I get to actually get out of the office and report, and secondly, some home games will mean a chance to resurrect the Wildcat Report Cards (for the women, it will be their first).
Another, more enlightening aspect of the CCAA schedule is that it gives us a reason to care about anything that happens in Carson.

So, to editorialize a bit in advance of the Enterprise-Record's conference previews, here's one modest man's take on where the Wildcat men and women should figure in with the 10 other schools from the CCAA.

WOMEN
As far as I'm concerned, this is a two-team gig, and Chico State is one of them. The other, currently No. 12 in Division II, is UC San Diego, a team that's beaten the Wildcats already this season. Yes, there are a couple of other 8-1 teams (Cal State San Bernardino, Sonoma State) in the mix so far, but my gut tells me that 1) December was a bad month of eating and 2) it's going to be Wildcats-Tritons somewhere down the line.
This isn't to say that the Seawolves shouldn't be taken seriously, even if my well-documented qualms with their mascot say so. Likewise, Cal State Dominguez Hills is, like the Wildcats, 1-1 in CCAA play so far and has won its share of games.

But Chico State gave itself a rough preseason schedule and more than survived it; also, the Tritons needed double overtime to beat Western Washington, a team the Wildcats beat by 20. I know, like opponents don't always tell the story, but I won't be surprised if UC San Diego gets a bigger handful when it comes to Acker.

MEN
Barring a miracle — and I put that disclaimer in there because, by golly, they do happen — Chico State will not contend for the CCAA title. Humboldt State is good. Cal State San Bernardino, now ranked 10th in Division II, is good. Same for Cal State L.A. and UC San Diego. There's just too much murkiness up top, even where it was thought to be clearly in possession of the Lumberjacks. Suddenly the Coyotes have decided that they're nails by not only beating up on the perennially pathetic Bay teams, but by knocking off seemingly every basketball team in Washington and falling only to Azusa Pacific, in overtime, no less.

What does that mean for Chico State? It's a little hard to tell. Teams that rely on effort as much as the Wildcats do suffer from Jekyll/Hyde syndrome, and you can see it. When the full assault mode isn't there — or shots aren't falling, or the whistles are going against them — it's always a rough ride for the Wildcats. More athletic teams have the luxury of being able to play through their rough patches; Chico State needs to grind it out. That's the difference, I think, between the bottom and top halves of the CCAA.

Posted by Travis Souders at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the things gleaned from Chico State women's basketball coach Molly Goodenbour before this season started was that the Wildcats would, early on, have to be able to win on the road and beat good teams with their depth. Traveling tends to make teams tired, you know.

So, the results of the mammoth nine-game road trip Chico State took — the Wildcats finished it 6-3 — can probably be interpreted as a good sign. I like that preseason schedule. The losses probably hurt a little, especially Friday night's free-throw-shooting debacle against St. Cloud State (a 37-9 on attempts justifies the word "debacle," I think), but Division II's No. 12 club should be happy with where it sits. The California Collegiate Athletic Association is widely rumored to be up for grabs, with the Wildcats one of the more favored teams to be in the hunt for it, so the more Chico State can prepare for that beast of a schedule, the better off it will be.

Having said that, certain trends have started to develop. The Wildcats have been stressing post play ad nauseum this year, but most of the attention has been on the offensive end. Renee Goldoff, Cory Edwards and Christine Vest have all had their moments, but Chico State was outscored 42-26 in the paint on Friday. That isn't really a telling trend, so to speak, since Saturday's tilt against Montana State-Billings was better (28-26 in favor of the Wildcats), and even in the loss to Seattle Pacific, Chico State owned the key. But what it does is show that if other teams can score from point blank against Wildcat bigs, it puts a lot of pressure on them to defend without fouling.

Of course, 37 foul calls is ludicrous compared to nine, but it was a tournament game hosted by a CCAA opponent in Rohnert Park. Just sayin'.

Posted by Travis Souders at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)