CHICAGO — In the Cougars' first conference road game, Chicago State women's basketball (1-10, 0-2 WAC) lost to California Baptist, 73-60.
In a hotly contested game, the Cougars were within four points, at 52-48, with only nine minutes left against the Lancers, who went unbeaten in the regular season last year. Quentarra Mitchell dropped in a season-high 21 points for the Cougars, adding seven rebounds. Allysah Boothe also poured in a prolific performance, scoring 15 points and nailing a season-best five threes.
Chicago State drained 11 three-pointers in the game, by far the most of the season — the previous high was five.
In the first quarter, the Lancers opened up the scoring with a layup by Britney Thomas. The Cougars immediately bounced back with a stellar jumper by Janiah Newell, but the Lancers answered back with a 7-0 run as they quickly led, 9-2.
On the next possession, Ana Haklicka hit a jumper, which snapped the Lancers run.
The Lancers once again answered back, however, as CBU managed a spurt to end the first on top, 14-7.
In the second quarter, the Lancers once again struck first with a deuce from Caitlyn Harper, yet like in the first, the Cougars bounced back as Christina Britter continued a hot streak with a ferocious drive to the basket. Nevertheless, the Lancers still led, 16-9.
From this point, CBU executed a 13-0 run, which unexpectedly had the Cougars down 20, 29-9. Chicago State then countered with a 12-3 run powered by Mitchell, which had them down by 11 at the half, 32-21.
In the third quarter, the Cougars continued their hot shooting with a 5-0 opening scoring run off of buckets from Newell, Kyjai Miles, and Aaliyah Collins. However, the Lancers answered back with two buckets to set the tone for the quarter, as a back-and-forth quarter saw CBU up, 52-43, heading into the fourth.
A 5-0 run to start the quarter, on baskets from Mitchell and Haklicka, brought CSU to within four. Nonetheless, the Lancers answered back with a 7-0 run which had them leading by 13 at 61-48. In spite of a few more threes from Boothe, who remained hot to the end, CBU held on for a 73-60 victory.
The Cougars next face Seattle U in Seattle on Monday at 3:00 p.m. before returning home for two games, facing UTRGV and Lamar, next Thursday and Saturday, Jan. 13 and 15.
About Chicago State
Chicago State University Athletics is comprised of 15 intercollegiate teams involving over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball. CSU held memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NCAA Division I in 1994. Melvin Bland was the first CSU student-athlete to gain NAIA All-American status in 1974 as a wrestler. Fred Evans became the first black swimmer ever to win a national championship in 1975. CSU's women's basketball team earned a spot in the 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational and CSU's men's basketball team won the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament title and made an appearance in the CollegeInside.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). The Men's Outdoor Track & Field 4x100-Meter Relay team were 2019 Honorable Mention All-Americans and WAC Champions. Their feat marked the first time the Chicago State's men's track & field program was represented at the national meet.
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