CHICO, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's basketball team was not able to snap Chico State's five-game winning streak, falling 74-65 to the Wildcats on Saturday afternoon in the first ever meeting between the two teams.
Nicole Lukito highlighted the Bobcats (4-7) efforts and broke the program's all-time double-double's record with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Her record breaking double-double was the 21st of her career, passing Damilola Sule for the most all-time. Eight of Lukito's 21 double-double's have come this season and her 21 double-double's currently rank seventh all-time in California Pacific Conference history. Lukito also had three assists, a steal, and a block on Saturday. Also of note, she passed Deyliana Lewis for fifth all-time with 485 career rebounds.
Sarina Nagra scored 15 points for the Bobcats in her fifth consecutive double digit scoring game. She shot 50% (3-6) from three-point land.
Madison Diaz matched Nagra with 15 points on 50% (3-6) shooting from downtown. Diaz also hauled in six boards. Paloma Ramirez finished with eight points and seven rebounds, while Elise LeBeau had five rebounds and four assists. Mariah Flores drilled two of her three three-point attempts on her way to an eight-point effort.
The Bobcats hit their first two shots of the game to take a 5-0 lead and led by six points on two occasions, including 10-4 midway through the first quarter. LeBeau scored five of the Bobcats first ten points. After Chico State followed with a 6-0 run to pull even, Diaz buried a triple to put her team back in front. A Nagra three-pointer put UC Merced up 18-14 in the closing minutes of the period and head coach Kellie Bernard's team managed to hold an 18-16 lead at the end of the quarter.
Chico State scored the first five points of the second frame and its 21-18 lead marked the Wildcats first advantage of the contest. The Wildcats, a current top 10 team in the west region, never gave up its lead. The Bobcats were still within two points with three minutes left before halftime, but an 8-0 Wildcats run over the next 90 seconds made it 37-27. The Bobcats trailed 39-32 at intermission.
Diaz scored on the first possession of the second half to make it a five-point game before the home team got hot with a 13-2 run over the next four minutes to build their lead to 16 points, 52-36. Chico State scored on four straight possessions in the run and on six of the eight trips down the floor overall. A little later with Chico State ahead 57-44, the Wildcats had another spurt in them and scored eight unanswered points to go up by 21 at 65-44 with 30 seconds left in the third quarter. Chico State shot the ball at a 58% (11-19) clip in the dominant period.
Chico State's biggest lead was 22 points, 70-48 just 45 seconds into the fourth quarter.
The Bobcats didn't stop battling. Nagra scored through contact which sparked a 13-0 UC Merced run over the next four minutes to come within single digits. Nagra capped the run with a three-pointer that made it 70-61 with 4:16 to play. However, the Bobcats couldn't shave any more points off the deficit and fell 74-65.
UC Merced finished the game shooting 35% from the floor, 39% from beyond the arc, and 66% (2-3) from the charity stripe. The Bobcats three free throw attempts marked the fewest since March 1, 2015.
Chico State earned 15 free throw attempts and made eleven.
A positive, the Bobcats committed a season-low eleven turnovers.
Up next, UC Merced will play at Hope International University on Thursday, January 2. Tipoff from Darling Pavilion in Fullerton, Calif., is scheduled for 5:30pm.
