CHICAGO — The Chicago State women's basketball team (4-22, 3-14 WAC) fell to California Baptist, 76-69, in an overtime thriller Wednesday at the Jones Convocation Center.
"We sent the game into overtime, so I admire our women staying in the fight," head coach Tiffany Sardin said. "But we have to have a better start. We have to execute and make free throws down the stretch."
The Cougars fell behind early, 20-4, but stormed back to tie the game in the fourth quarter, eventually taking a lead late. The Lancers pushed back to force OT, where they cruised for their 21st win.
Aaliyah Collins led the Cougars with 17 points, while Quentarra Mitchell scored 12 and Allysah Boothe dropped in 11. Laura Segues delivered 16 quality minutes, scoring eight points, and Nafa Haidara grabbed 14 boards on a four-point scoring night.
The Cougars outrebounded CBU, 58-35, and held the Lancers to 7-of-30 from three, but the OT charge won the night for the visitors.
Early, the Lancers scored first and came out to a 20-4 run, keyed by Caitlyn Harper's strong inside play and Ane Olaeta's smooth play from the point. Collins and Newell kept Chicago State active, but the Cougars trailed, 24-8, at the end of the first.
Chicago State didn't go anywhere, however, unleashing a second-quarter tear to keep the Lancers honest. Segues and Jazmine each checked in and hit key shots to kickstart the rally. Meanwhile, the Cougars locked up defensively, with Haidara locking down the paint.
At the 5:43 mark, the Lancers still led, 29-16, but the Cougars defense forced a stretch of seven consecutive misses from the floor. Allysah Boothe nailed a three to pull within 10, and Mitchell free throws plus a Britter bucket brought the deficit to just seven.
The Cougars continued to score, with Covington and Collins each draining jumpers to bring CSU to within four points, at 34-30, at halftime.
At the break, the Cougars were outrebounding the Lancers, 28-13, and had just forced a stretch of 10 misses in 11 shots.
In the third, the Cougars kept their momentum going, scoring first on a Collins layup. The teams then traded blows to a 38-38 score at the 5:54 mark. That's when CBU pieced together a small run to edge ahead by four before CSU tied it on a Covington jumper and Boothe free throws. Boothe went on to hit a three with 36 seconds left, and the teams went to the fourth tied at 49.
With 3:00 left in the game, the Cougars and Lancers were tied at 57 apiece. Collins nailed a three at the 2:16 mark to make it 60-57, but the Lancers responded with an Olaeta layup and a Nicole Aviila-Ambrosi trey to push ahead, 62-60, at the 1:20 mark.
Collins tied it with a layup with 49 seconds left before on Olaeta response 11 seconds later. With CBU leading, 64-62, Haidara then nailed a layup off a Collins dish and drew a foul but missed the free throw, so the teams went to overtime tied at 64.
In OT, the Lancers and Cougars played a scoreless first minute, followed by Boothe and Brittany Klaman threes to stay tied at 67. A minute later, with the Lancers up, 68-67, Collins hit a midrange jumpshot to power the Cougars ahead, but that was followed by a Harper layup to make it 70-69 CBU. For the rest of OT, the Lancers led en route to the 76-69 win.
The Cougars will cap off the regular season with a tilt against Seattle U at 1:00 p.m. Saturday at the Jones Convocation Center. The Cougars earned their first WAC win of the season against the RedHawks on Jan. 10 in Seattle, a 64-57 victory.
"We want to send out our seniors with a bang," Sardin said.
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. In 1991, the Chicago State women's tennis team became the first all-black college team to amass an unbeaten season at the NCAA level. 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, also making 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. Chicago State volleyball recorded a historic season in 2021, with Yanlis Feliz becoming CSU's first volleyball All-American and head coach Tony Trifonov earning selection as WAC Coach of the Year.
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