ARCATA, Calif. – In a back-and-forth battle, which featured eight lead changes, the Lumberjacks (7-7, 4-3) came from behind to defeat rival Chico State (5-7, 1-6), 77-71 on Thursday night. The win snapped a two-game losing streak and evened Humboldt State's record on the season.
 
"I felt like when we got down a little bit, we hit some shots that pushed us forward," said Head Coach Joddie Gleason. "When you hit shots, it makes you look really smart. Rebounding has been a focus for us all week. We kept them off the boards and grabbed our rebounds, which we converted into easy buckets or fouls."
 
After allowing a Whitney Branham three pointer to open the game, consecutive layups by Amanda Kunst erased the early Chico State lead. Teylor McMiller scored the game's next jumper and gave the Jacks its largest lead of the half at 6-3. Trailing 13-12 with 4:16 remaining in the period, Chico State closed out the quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 18-13 after one.
 
Kiana Brown led the Jacks in the opening half with nine points on 3-for-5 shooting from long range. Her first made three of the day opened the second quarter, cutting the deficit to two, 18-16. Although the Green and Gold did not cut into Chico State's lead, the two sides both put up 20 in the quarter, keeping it a five-point game at intermission, 38-33.
 
The Wildcats opened the second half with five straight points to push their lead to a game-high 10 points. Still a double-figure game with 6:08 remaining in the third quarter, Humboldt went on an 11-2 run to make it a one-point game, 50-49. After trading the next few baskets, Kunst made a layup to close out the quarter with the HSU trailing, 58-56.
 
The Jacks continued to claw back in the fourth, despite trailing by six in the period. A'Jaee Foster tied the score at 65-65 on her made layup deep in the post with 6:19 remaining. After several empty possessions from both sides, Neika Puryear netted a deep triple to put the Jacks ahead by three, 68-65 with under four and a half on the clock. The lead was never lost after forfeited as the Jacks went on to win 76-69.
 
Kunst finished with a game-high 19 points, with Foster adding in a season-high 16 points. Brown finished 5-for-11 from three, which accounted for all 15 of her points. McMiller collected double-figure rebounds for the second time this season.
 
"Being in Lumberjack Arena is like no other," said Gleason. "We have the best home crowd in the conference. We strung a couple of threes together and all of a sudden it got very loud in there."
 
Humboldt State returns to action on Saturday with CCAA foe Stanislaus State visiting Lumberjack Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. with the men's game to follow.