ARCATA – Humboldt State knew it would be in for a battle against rival Chico State, but the Jacks were ready for the fight. Pumped up and out for blood, the Lumberjacks beat the Wildcats 72-62 Saturday night.

The win extends the Jacks winning streak to three games and puts them at 7-1 overall, 3-1 in California Collegiate Athletic Association action. Chico State, on the other hand, drops to 5-3 overall, 2-2 in conference action, snapping the Wildcats' two-game winning streak.

"Anytime you play Chico, whether it's the first game of the year or the last, you get that rivalry going and your juices flowing," said head coach Joddie Gleason. "Every conference game is important, however. We treat every conference game the same because the game in the beginning of the season is just as important as the last one."

Bree Halsey and Lisa Petty both grabbed double-doubles to lead the Jacks to the victory. Halsey snagged a game-high 14 rebounds and 11 points, while Petty finished with a game-high 17 points and 11 rebounds on the night. Caitie Richards and Lexxi Price also finished with points in double digits, scoring 14 and 13 points, respectively.

After grabbing a five-point lead early in the first half, Humboldt State may have gotten too amped up for the rivalry game and missed shots it normally wouldn't miss. The Jacks soon saw the lead change in favor of the Wildcats after they missed nine shots to give Chico State a nine-point run.

The Wildcats also had four players pick up double digits in points led by Natasha Smith and Synchro Bull, with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Jazmine Miller finished with 11 points, while McKenzie Dalthorp ended the night with an even 10 points and 10 rebounds to complete the double-double.

The Jacks got into their grove, grabbing a nine-point lead at half, after they found themselves trailing at one point by eight points to the Wildcats.

"We've been talking about this game all week and we were excited," said Richards. "We came out ready to go, but maybe a little too ready to go. Once we settled down, we got more comfortable and things started clicking."

Gleason knew Bull would be a handful due to her quickness and eagerness to drive to the basket, but the Jacks forced Bull to take 21 shots just to get points on the board.

"Bull is such a tough one to guard because she's so quick and gets to the basket whenever she sees any type of lane," said Gleason. "Our goal was to try to make her take tough shots."

Humboldt State never surrendered its lead in the second half, making smart choices offensively and limiting its turnovers to just five—something Gleason has been focusing on in practice.

"Turnovers have been a thorn in our side all year and its something we've been addressing," said Gleason. "It's hard because we really want to push tempo and get easy baskets there so at times we turn the ball over because we don't make the right read or right decision. It's huge against a team like Chico, who really pressures and is really quick, to only turn the ball over 12 times."

The Jacks didn't allow the Wildcats get into any rhythm, never letting their lead drop below four points, largely due to key Jacks' defensive effort. 

"We were forcing them out of plays they wanted to do and made some big defensive plays that kind of took the wind out of their sails," said Gleason.

"All our rebounds and steals just shows that we wanted the win badly," said Richards. "It was a team effort. We had two people in double digits, but it was all of us getting after it on the boards."

Humboldt State returns to host Cal State Stanislaus Monday, Dec. 19, at 5:30 p.m. in Lumberjack Arena.