CHICO — The Humboldt State Lumberjacks dropped a nail -biter to an undefeated Chico State in a fired-up Acker Gym on Friday night, 64-62. The result leaves the Jacks 0-2 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play while keeping the Wildcats perfect, 3-0.
Humboldt came out strong in the first half ,clamping down on back-to-back conference player of the week and Chico State all-star Natasha Smith who remained scoreless for the first nine minutes of play. Smith was later escorted off the court with a game-stopping injury under the Wildcat basket in the beginning of the second half.
The Jack's defense in the first half is the intensity that the Humboldt State coaching staff has been looking for from their team.
“We came out with intensity and worked hard defensively,” said Humbolt State assistant coach Skip Gleason. “ The girls stuck within our game plan, “ he added.
Offensively, the Jacks were led by guard Jenna Hamilton, with 17 points. Hamilton scored just five for the Jacks in the first half, but contributed 12 points in the second part of the game.
“Jenna did a good job tonight and especially defending her (referring to guarding Smith),” said Gleason. “But it is a whole group effort to stop a player like Smith, “ he added.
The Wildcats ended the first half with a horn-buzzing basket to edge them within six of the Jacks.
What looked like complete Humboldt control going into the second half completely turned to Wildcat territory. Chico dominated the early minutes of the second half, outscoring the Jack's 13-2 in the early minutes.
It was Smith who took over the lead for Chico, shooting over Hamilton to earn the Wildcats an outright lead before exiting the game.
But a stubbon Humboldt fought back with back-to-back threes from Hamilton with just over 13 minutes to play.
Continued Jacks turnovers often led to easy Chico points to keep the Wildcats just a hair out of reach towards the end of the second half.
“I have no complaints about tonights game and our effort, “ commented Gleason. “The thing about CCAA play is we turn around and play tomorrow…so good or bad we have to work towards the next game, “ concluded Gleason.
Humboldt continues on to face Cal State Stanislaus on Saturday night for the final game of the road trip.
