CHICO GETS FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON 

KNOCKING OFF WESTERN WASHINGTON

     Turnovers be damned....Wildcats win.

     The Chico State Wildcat men's basketball team turned the ball over on three of their first four possessions on Sunday night in Ellensburg and it had Wildcat fans thinking, "here we go again."

     The Wildcats turned the ball over 29 times on Saturday in a 62-56 loss to Montana State-Billings. The 29 turnovers were the third most in program history. Despite all the miscues head coach Ceven Meador loved the competitiveness of his team and feels the turnover problems are an outlier and will not continue.

     Despite 20 turnovers on Sunday the Wildcats shot the lights out to beat Western Washington 90-82. Cortevious Taylor led the charge with 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting and 6-of-8 from three point range. Robel Zemmo scored 23 points off the bench on 5-of-9 shooting and 3-for-3 from long distance. 

     The Wildcats dominated the Vikings on the boards with a 40-23 advantage grabbing 13 offensive rebounds resulting in 19 second-chance points. The Cats' also made their free throws (25-of-32) at a 79 percent clip.

     With the win the Wildcats move to 1-2 salvaging the final game of their three-game road trip in Ellensburg at the D-II Tip Off Classic.

     Western Washington dropped all three games at the Classic, losing a tight one to San Bernardino 85-82 on Friday night. Also falling to 23rd-ranked Lubbock Christian 72-67. 

     Western will make their way to Chico for the CCAA/GNAC Crossover Challenge on November 13th for a 5pm game. The two-day tournament will feature Chico State and Cal Poly Pomona from the CCAA and Western Washington and Seattle Pacific from the Great Northwest Conference. Games will be played on November 13th and 14th and admission will be free on November 13th for the Wildcats home opener. 

GOLDEN STATE WINS WNBA TITLE IN ONLY THEIR 2ND YEAR

     A fresh WNBA CHAMPIONS T-shirt over her uniform, Gabby Williams cradled the shiny MVP trophy in one arm and gave it a kiss. She held up a No. 1 with her left hand, then hugged and high-fived her supporters all the way to Golden State’s locker room where she pulled on some goggles for the celebration.

     Williams made her way back to the Bay Area where she cherishes so many youth basketball memories exactly for a chance to do something like this — to win it all and be part of building something special.

     And she has done that all right. 

     “I just walked into a group full of love,” Williams said. “And that just changed the entire trajectory of my career.”

     Williams scored her team’s final 11 points of the third quarter and dazzled through the fourth on the way to 30 points, and the Valkyries captured a championship in just their second season by beating the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in a sensational first WNBA Finals Game 7 on Saturday night.

     “Gabby is our closer she stayed patient, she stayed with it,” coach Natalie Nakase said. “Closing with 30, that is incredible!”

     Williams joined Penny Taylor in 2007 for Phoenix as the only players in WNBA history to score 30 or more points in a winner-take-all Finals game.

     Jordin Canada scored 18 points, Allisha Gray 16 and Angel Reese had eight points and 12 rebounds for the Dream, denied another championship in the franchise’s fourth try. 

     Gray made two free throws with 11 seconds left then Atlanta forced a jump ball — Gray against Williams — and Veronica Burton corralled it and converted two free throws with 5.1 seconds to go.

     “I’m just so blessed, this is insane!” said Burton, cut by Dallas two years ago.